The Return of the King - Nabooru's Story
by tooperfect4words
Summary: When the once banished man, Ganondorf, is returned to Hyrule under auspicious circumstances, Nabooru is forced to deal with making sure he stays out of trouble, fighting off a mysterious gang of criminals seemingly obsessed with him, and most difficult of all - her own feelings for him.
1. Chapter 1 - The King's Return

Beyond the highest peaks of the Hylainian mountains and the safety of the Sages-protected land of Hyrule, a small shriveled woman moved cautiously through the forest towards the entrance to a long-forgotten and now overgrown clearing.

"We've found it my leader" she said to another woman who stood overlooking the top of the clearing. "How can you be so sure?" the other replied as she stared out into the circle. There was a series of stones surrounding a deep pit in the middle.

"The girl" the woman replied. They both turned to see the rest of their group approaching cautiously. Two of the guards dragged with them a red haired girl who was slumped against them. One of them stepped forward to drop her on the ground, causing her to roll slightly forward into the moonlit clearing. "Where did you find such a docile Gerudo?" the now stated leader asked.

The old woman grinned as she pointed back into the clearing, "She's related to him."

"Well," the leader said as she indicated towards the center of the circle, "Don't be scared."

For some reason the night seemed darker here, more ominous. The group began to assemble like they'd been trained around the circle. There were small stone chairs but none seemed comfortable with sitting down.

"It smells like death here" one of the others commented as they cautiously tip-toed forward.

"Not death" the leader replied, "The dark realm." She shivered as a strange blast went through the trees and rattled the small group.

"We shouldn't be here" the older woman commented as she stepped back to the edge of the circle, "This has been abandoned for a reason."

"If it was abandoned for the right reason, She will be pleased" the leader replied. They all looked forward as a glowing light appeared in the center of the circle, causing the Gerudo to sputter back to life as well.

"Where am I?" she asked as she stood and looked around at the group who had bowed their heads. "Wha…What?" she asked as they all saw the dark figurine descend from the sky.

"Concentrate" the leader said as the figure descended upon all of them and seemed to run through them.

The Gerudo started choking as she felt herself lose control of her body once again, she bowed her head as her arms went limp.

The glowing light in the center of the circle grew brighter as a circle of fiery light began to shine. They could all hear the loud cracking noise as the door to the other side was sprung open. "It is here" the older woman commented, "We're opening it already?" A dark figurine appeared on the other side of the lighted door, the sounds of his boots echoing through the group.

The older woman trembled as the rest of the group seemed to go dark, "I can't do this anymore. This is too much, I need to go!" She ran through the group to take off into the forest, causing the circle to break and the dark figurine to lift up his fists in rage.

"No!" the leader yelled, "You'll send him to the main portal!"

But it was too late, the dark thing that had connected them reached out to choke the older woman as the entire circle started to glow. The circular door evaporated with a large blast, sending the group crashing into the trees.

The Gerudo gasped as she felt her own body and regained the ability to see through her own eyes once more, "He's back."

* * *

Chapter 1

Hiding her eyes from the many Hylain's that buzzed about the castle marketplace, Nabooru tried to keep from being recognized as a Gerudo as she made her way to the Temple of Time.

She had been called for another sages meeting, which wouldn't have been so bad if the marketers around her weren't so keen on yelling things like "Gerudo" or "Thief" every time they saw her face and ended up getting her kicked out of the marketplace. This made her have to resort to more desperate measures to make it to the meeting.

Nabooru grimaced as she turned to see Saria, the forest sage, so easily slip through the crowds while she had to wear a cloak to keep from being mobbed. Saria seemed to know the cloaked figure was her as she immediately recognized Nabooru and pulled her into the entrance while whispering "come on, were late".

* * *

Inside the temple the sages assembled like they normally did, sitting in mysterious magic chairs that would only appear if the correct sage tried to sit around the long table where Rauru conducted his many meetings.

King Darunia, the fire sage, liked to position his chair by Saria as with Link's help the two had become close friends. Zelda, if sitting in her correct position would normally be by Rauru as she was the seventh sage though instead she tended to linger between her guardian Impa and Ruto who was a fellow princess.

Nabooru wasn't partial to who she was sitting between and she tended to end up by Rauru or Impa. But no matter where she sat she seemed to find the same problem, anything about Ganondorf was linked to her, the Gerudo. The worst meetings always seemed to be the ones that Rauru had only called to have Nabooru end whatever trouble her people seemed to be causing.

Still Nabooru attended faithfully and didn't falter in her duties at the Spirit temple as well as here, but it did seem to be becoming an annoyance to her.

Nabooru sat down between Impa and Rauru as the only other free space was by the annoying Ruto. Rauru nodded his head to his six other colleagues and then he sat down and stated his normal speech about the current states of the triforce and such while the rest of the sages nodded their heads along and waited for the real business of this meeting to start.

When Rauru was finished, the rest of the sages broke into little conversations of their own and Nabooru sat and patiently waited for Rauru to address what had made him call forth this random meeting.

Rauru once again stood from his chair and cleared his throat to speak, "The reason I have called for this meeting to commence" he said with much gusto, "is that once again another group of assassins has attempted to bring one of those we long ago banished from his sealed prison".

Six small groans were heard and Nabooru was almost ready to bring her head down on to the table, this meeting was soon to be linked to her and she could feel it.

Rauru took a breath before continuing, "Nabooru" he started as Nabooru folded her hands and tried not to show her annoyance, "have you been aware of the meetings the castle has heard of taking place under your fortress?" Nabooru shook her head, she suspected there might still be as there where a few Gerudos that would try something like that while she was at the Spirit temple but she had never seen who. The rest of the sages were looking at her expectantly, Nabooru hated the feeling that they were suspecting her of being a bad leader.

Rauru stared at her also, "Are you positive?" Nabooru nodded, Rauru stared and the rest of the sages sensed something was not right.

Rauru sat back down, "Nabooru if you haven't been aware of the fact that there are seventeen Gerudos who have been slinking in and out of the cliffs of Hyrule that you did not send them on any business for yourself", Nabooru wasn't sure what to say as Rauru continued, "a group of assassins have opened the door to the Spirit Realm outside of Hyrule, we suspected they had help from Hyrule. Nabooru that group has been helping something that might lead to our demise!"

Nabooru lowered her head as thoughts rushed through her head.

Mika, her old king Ganondorf's cousin had started a group of seventeen members who wanted her out of power and tried to secretly rile the rest of the band against her. Nabooru had caught the group in time and disbanded it but the seventeen still remained in the fortress. Nabooru knew Mika had been acting odd recently but Mika was smart enough not to help outsiders when they tried something like Rauru had been saying.

As Nabooru thought about this she suddenly realized that Mika might be controlled by a magician on the outside. Which would explain a lot of things Nabooru's second in command had reported to her. Nabooru grimaced, she would simply play dumb until the meeting was over, for once she cared more about her valley's interactions with the outside than her own internal politics.

For the rest of the meeting the sages debated over what to do about this problem while Nabooru silently mulled it over. Nabooru did not want the seventeen banished to the outside like Ruto wanted or a spy from outside Gerudo Valley trying to stop them. Nabooru watched as Rauru actively involved the other sages as she tried to exclude herself from his conversation.

For some reason she got the sense that everyone else there was oddly tense with her there as well, almost as if they were waiting for her to leave.

She couldn't have been more thrilled for the opportunity when the meeting finally paused and Rauru averted his eyes from hers to go do his usual gossip session with the Princess Zelda. Nabooru was the first to leave.

After Nabooru had exited the market she pulled off the cloak and tossed it into the moat, she didn't care if anyone saw her now and she was tired of hiding. She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. A tan horse with a red mane ran towards her and flashed off its colorful saddle in the sunlight. Nabooru patted its neck before mounting and galloping towards Gerudo Valley.

* * *

Nabooru arrived at the entrance to find her usual assigned guard at the foot of the bridge. Nabooru smiled and talked to her for a second before dismounting and letting her horse amble away. She chose to enter the fortress instead of going back to the Spirit Temple and found her Second in command, Isle, talking to a guard in a back room.

As Nabooru entered Isle and the guard immediately stopped talking and snapped to attention.

"Isle" Nabooru stated, "Check on Mika, I would like to speak to her about something. If she is not in the fort I want a message sent to me immediately and the entrance guards questioned about when she left".

Isle nodded her head, when Nabooru thought something was wrong it was best to check on the issue immediately because she tended to be right about her suspicions.

Nabooru walked to the Haunted Wastelands gate, she wanted to report to the Spirit Temple but something held her back this time, she felt the urge to stay behind. Nabooru walked to a wooden crate and sat on it letting her head hang on her hands. A guard from the gate climbed down from her post as she went to make sure Nabooru was okay. Nabooru smiled at the guard who continued with switching posts with another guard. A few minutes later Isle returned with Mika who had a blank look in her eyes but looked as if she had been crying earlier.

Nabooru stood as Mika slowly trudged towards her.

Nabooru looked to Isle, "Was she crying?" Isle nodded.

Nabooru looked back to Mika, "have you been involved with…."she started as Mika burst into sobs and covered her hands with her eyes. Several surrounding Gerudos stared at the sight of her crying as Nabooru stepped closer and Mika started to mumble.

"I didn't know what I was doing" she said, "I would wake up and I would be on the outside or at the gate".

Mika lifted her arm and brushed some of the tears away. "They released him, they used us to find the information on how".

Nabooru's eyes widened, she realized automatically that by him Mika could have meant HIM, and through her sobs she was saying he had already been let out of his prison in the spirit realm. Mika looked up to met Nabooru's eyes, "they were speaking to him, they told him they wanted his help. They wanted to join with him and regain Hyrule ".

Mika stopped crying and started to sniffle, "He told her, the leader of the assassins that he didn't want that – something else instead but there was that dark shadow….". Mika trailed off as she let out a few more sobs while Isle tried to pat her back.

Nabooru stepped back to sink down to her seat on the crate as she took in the shock of what she had said, something had been controlling Mika. And she knew the He in question wanted to come back, but it was a feat that would be nearly impossible. Both Isle and Nabooru knew that Mika was crying about something else, the rest of the story would be harder to come by though.

Isle left Mika to talk to Nabooru, "she keeps saying it took him, Nabooru what took who?"

Nabooru looked up to Isle and spoke softly "I'm guessing whatever she meant by the dark shadow would be what took him".

"Who?" Isle asked, "Could it be…?"

Mika who had obviously been listening to them whisper shook her head, "the shadow took the assassins but it was Hylain's that took him" Mika replied, "They say the sages will decide what to do with him".

Nabooru looked up and frowned, "when did this happen."

Mika shrugged a little, "Not sure, a few hours ago, sometime before you left."

Nabooru stood in shock, "we just had a sages meeting, I was the first to leave, I didn't see any others leaving."

"Oh no" Mika said as she grabbed her face with her hands, "Oh no oh no." Nabooru tried to contain herself as she stood and started walking to the gate.

"If it's who I think it is they are probably going to banish him back, or try to" Nabooru said, "without me," she added. It was hard not to hear a twinge of regret in her voice.

"Don't send him back" Mika said, "he had been pleading with the shadow he had wanted to change, he told me and the others and he didn't want to help the assassins, and they offered him a lot more then just their help". This made Nabooru slow down her pace and turn to Mika.

"So you say he wants to change," Nabooru said. "The one they released, yes" Mika replied, "But it doesn't matter, they will close the portal before we can reach him at all." Nabooru thought about this while she continued to walk and then run, if the he was who she thought it was, he could just as easily be playing a trick.

Nabooru considered the two sides before mounting her horse and setting off, she knew she would have to go pretty fast to make it before they sealed the portal.

* * *

As Nabooru dismounted near the castle gate the gate slowly began to close for the night as Nabooru realized she wouldn't have time to search for her cloak's hiding place in the moat. She rushed to the waters edge and leaped up grabbing the end of the bridge.

She pulled herself over the to the other side and used the wood to slide down to the cobblestone floor of the marketplace. Nabooru ran threw the crowds of people who where starting to head to their houses and ignored the cries that came out of a few of the people.

Nabooru rushed to the Temple of Time and threw open the gates. But when she stepped in the great hall was quiet and empty leaving the only sound her panting in the entrance.

Nabooru burst out the doors and ran towards the castle, she entered the pathway to the gate only to find it surrounded by villagers all wanting to watch something. A man was guarding the one lonely vine that lead up to where the villagers could have jumped and gotten through the gate.

The castle was set up at the top of a tall cliff that overlooked the temple and the village. It was relatively impenetrable due to the natural rocky walls and guards that manned the entire area. It had been built long before any of Nabooru's known ancestors were even born, but fortunately enough Gerudos had still found ways of figuring out the tunnels and weaknesses of the underbelly of it that she did know of a few other tricks to get inside.

Nabooru slipped to the front of the crowd covering her face halfway by her arm and staying to the side so she wouldn't be crushed. She reached the front and found that villagers were already bargaining prices for admittance.

She was surprised to see the nearby tree was already being climbed by some villagers. There was a series of guards at the top already trying to pull them down.

"Well there's my distraction" she said to herself as she veered from the entrance to the brick wall that ran along the side of the castle.

She hoisted herself over the wall using some vines and slid down behind it. Nabooru pushed herself flat against the edge of the small cliff that the castle was hosted on as she noticed two guards below chattering at their posts.

"I guess old Rauru is planning on making a show of that bastard to the peasants and nobles alike" the closer one said to the other.

The other nodded as his helmet bounced, "I can't imagine what the sages are doing back there with him though" he said, "the wait is killing both me and the villagers".

The closer one laughed before looking to the sky which was slowly getting darker, "wonder why they are doing this so late" he said as he continued to look up.

Nabooru also looked as the sky slowly shifted to night, the portal near the castle had been sealed at night, so of course it would only work at night. That could only mean to Nabooru that the show they were putting on would be sealing someone in the Spirit Realm with a more permanent mark.

Though how they would manage without her eluded her.

Nabooru crawled farther behind the guards where she let herself down and sprinted to the fields. She heard some shouts and grimaced as she realized some of the guards must have spotted her sprinting figure.

She felt a sign of relief as she recognized it as a platform her long-term friend Link had mentioned in her in a story about his childhood when he had zigzag-ed around guards to try and get close to the princess, Zelda. Behind her she could spot the guards sprinting to keep up.

"Almost there" she muttered.

Nabooru climbed this and peered over the edge at a huge ancient looking gate that stood at the edge of the moat and from the noises coming from the outside of the wall. She knew that the sages would be there.

After three attempts at jumping the wall the separated her from what was beyond the locked gate, Nabooru succeeded in vaulting over.

She looked up to see her king in chains surrounded by the other sages who were performing a spell that had them locked deep in concentration.

For a minute Nabooru couldn't breathe, "Ganondorf" she muttered as she stared at him.

* * *

Nabooru now walked with a hurried pace as Ganondorf locked his eyes on hers. She nearly forgot what she was doing as a flood of memories of looking at those eyes hit her.

She looked to see all of the sages looking towards the sky with their respective colors glowing about them.

Ganondorf looked more annoyed than frightened as he stood locked behind the sage's circle with his fists clenched and face in a grimace. Chains ran from his wrists to the ground and heavier irons clamped on his ankles locked his feet to the ground, he was pulling on these but to no avail.

There was an extra large space open between Impa and Rauru that Nabooru recognized as the place she was supposed to be.

Suddenly, Nabooru found two heavy arms around her and a rough voice whispered in her ear "do not disturb the sages".

Nabooru knew some guards must have spotted her. She stopped moving long enough for them to loosen their grip before breaking into a harsh twist from one guard into another where she flailed herself out.

Nabooru turned and ran to the circle of sages. The guards gave a shout of surprise and started to chase her down into the circle, they were not supposed to let anyone break the sages' concentration. Nabooru stopped to keep herself from falling into King Darunia as one of the guards leapt for a tackle and missed instead sending Nabooru flying and crashing into Saria.

Saria faltered and the sealing spell she had been chanting had immediately ended. The sages where immediately thrown from their concentration on the powerful sealing spell as Saria fell to the ground while Nabooru rolled to her feet. The sages now had confused looks on their faces as they rubbed their eyes and tried to figure out what happened. The guards now stood looking shocked at the blinking sages.

Using a thief's reactions, Nabooru rushed to the chained Ganondorf. Even though Ganondorf was well over 6 feet and Nabooru much shorter she still managed to look somewhat intimidating standing in front of him.

Ganondorf looked to Nabooru, he knew that if anyone could help him it would be her. Although he also still sort of hated her. After all she had been one of the sages that had locked him up originally.

Nabooru narrowed her eyes as she stared at him "are you really trying to change?" she asked quietly.

Ganondorf was expecting a question session from Nabooru and he nodded his head as politely as he could, there was no way he was messing this up. She still looked at him with disbelief, "prove it," she said as she folded her arms.

Ganondorf didn't give this another second's thought, "I'm tired of the groups wanting my help" he started in a slow serious tone, "I'm tired of having to defend myself, I'm tired of wasting tons of black magic, my time, and my energy away at things that never last long and I wish for once I didn't have to defend myself every step I take near villages of people biased against me".

Ganondorf felt satisfied with these comments, he indeed truly wanted right now to be left in peace but he knew that with Nabooru he couldn't simply say that.

She turned as last minute thoughts crept through her head, politically for the Gerudos it would be a good decision to plead his case but she knew both the sages and her own feelings right now only wanted to finish locking him up.

Pushing away her feelings of doubt Nabooru walked towards the startled sages. The guards had also regained sense of where they where and both ran opposite sides of the circle to grab both of Nabooru's arms. This time farther away and more wary of her.

Rauru regained his posture and glared at Nabooru. His eyes appeared as though they were about to pop out of his head. Darunia and Ruto helped Saria stand as Zelda walked towards Rauru with a cold look in her eyes.

"You said you had a perfectly good reason for making us all do this without the help of Nabooru, right now would be the perfect time to tell us what" Zelda growled.

"I" Rauru started before puffing his chest a little, "did not want to associate Nabooru with this as she might be deeply offended by the message he gives off about her race".

Rauru's answer infuriated Zelda even more and Impa folded her arms in deep annoyance. Still held by the guards Nabooru did her best to keep still and quiet.

Rauru looked clearly uncomfortable; he was always against Ganondorf and hadn't trusted Ganondorf's assertions of peace. Now that Nabooru was here, it would be harder to make excuses of why not to listen to Ganondorf or why not to complete the sealing. He didn't want to listen to Zelda's lectures and instead turned his attention to the guards. "Please release the Spirit Sage."

The two immediately dropped both of Nabooru's arms and let her walk towards the rest of the sages.

"Ganondorf says he wants to change" Nabooru said to the group but mainly aimed at Rauru.

Zelda met Nabooru's eyes, "I'm sure we can reach some agreement" Zelda started, "Maybe in a more suitable area. Zelda motioned to the guards, "bring Ganondorf to the conference room around the back way and tell the posts at the gate to send the crowd away".

Nabooru smiled a little on the inside at the way Zelda gave out orders, Zelda had a much better political sense then Rauru and had a way of keeping her wits about her even in stressful situations. Nabooru then followed the rest of the sages as they went to Zelda's conference room.

* * *

Zelda's conference room was a long room with a vaulted ceiling and a large wooden table in the center. Ganondorf was standing against a wall where guards could obviously see him from all sides of the room. Nabooru didn't look to see if they had kept him chained, as she was instead concentrating on the long tapestries that fell from the tall ceiling all bearing the triforce. Nabooru took her seat at the table and watched as the rest of the sages followed. A few official looking Hylain's also joined them along with the king himself. Nabooru sneaked a glance back at Ganondorf who was looking at her intently. Zelda clapped her hands; the king was here only to watch so Zelda had naturally assumed the responsibilities of calling the meeting together.

She was a great princess, and the fact that she had the air of an adult at even such a young age was really coming in handy right now..

Pulled out of her slight daydream Nabooru began to pay attention to the meeting. The conversation at the table was focused entirely on what to do about Ganondorf who stood quietly and didn't say a word. Nabooru listened as she herself tried to help the decision but did not know herself.

She excused herself from the table for a moment and was surprised to see Impa follow her into the hallway. "You don't trust him" Impa said as Nabooru stopped to look at her more senior friend.

"I don't" Nabooru replied.

"But he has a lot of faith in you" Impa replied.

"He's still in love with me" Nabooru answered, "there's a difference."

"Do you want to give him another chance?" Impa asked.

"He's my king" Nabooru replied, "He belongs back in the Gerudo Valley. No matter what I want."

"Do you think he would listen to you?" Impa said.

"He'd probably follow me off a cliff if I asked him to" Nabooru answered, "That was true then, and it's true now."

She stopped before touching Impa's arm, "And the others, they still don't know about this." "I would never tell" Impa replied.

As the meeting wore on it seemed as though the table was divided equally between those who wanted Ganondorf locked up or him left in Hyrule. Still not all opinions had been expressed at the table as neither Impa nor Nabooru had contributed a strong point to either side and Impa hadn't said anything at all.

When the question was left just as undecided about an hour later Impa finally unfolded her hands where she had been resting her chin and looked up around the faces at the table before resting her eyes on Nabooru.

"Nabooru" she said as the rest of the table became immediately silent. "Would you be willing to watch Ganondorf very closely for a period of time to make sure he really wants peace."

Impa said this as she moved her eyes to Ganondorf who was still acting very polite and leaning against the wall. Nabooru nodded her head, "yes."

The rest of the table mumbled about the idea and after a few more minutes of confirmation the meeting was finally called to a close. The officials from the castle and the king stood to leave as Rauru and Zelda stated specifications for Nabooru to follow.

Then the sages warily stood. Although most looked like they wanted to run, they didn't leave and Nabooru knew it was because they were waiting to see what would happen when they removed Ganondorf's chains. She sighed a deep breath as she stood herself and walked to stand next to Ganondorf.

He seemed somewhat amused as the two guards attempting to remove his chains began to shake.

"If the only catch to my freedom is that I have to be around you, this is going to be easy" he said.

She rolled her eyes as she turned to leave, "Don't think you can start doing any funny business now" she replied, "I'm going to be watching you like a hawk".

He followed her out of the castle grounds and to the closed gate. The guards opened the bridge faster than Nabooru had ever seen them to do so before, causing her to grin. They themselves were clearly glad to be rid of Ganondorf. Before they could exit in a surprise move he pulled her to him to give her a large hug, causing her to shudder in surprise. "Thank you" he mumbled as they both looked across the field, she could feel he wanted to ask the same question she had

" _What now?"_

Author's Note:

Hey there! Thanks so much for reading. This is an old story I've decided to recently redo again after cleaning up the grammar and learning to talk good-er (if you know what I mean). I'll do my best to publish a new chapter every week. Please let me know if you have any feedback!


	2. Chapter 2 - Nabooru's Errands

Ganondorf stepped out onto the field as he breathed in the night air. The sky was pitch black but he was not afraid of any dangers that tended to lurk the fields at night. Those dangers feared him much too much to ever come out from the ground. This had always left him free to roam the field at night. Ganondorf turned as he suddenly he heard a whistle behind him from Nabooru. She took a step towards a galloping horse that was coming towards her before she looked at Ganondorf and sighed.

"What" he asked - he felt a little twinge of worry as he knew Nabooru could report one wrong turn of his and have him banished back to the Spirit Realm.

Nabooru eased his worries when she turned to him and instead gave a weak smile, "guess I'm back to being second in command" she said.

Ganondorf smiled back, he hadn't even considered his status back at the fortress.

Nabooru mounted her horse as she looked to Ganondorf who was rudely reminded that he had no idea where his horse was. Nabooru just shrugged as she scooted up in her saddle and offered her hand to him. Ganondorf grabbed her hand and swung on to the back of Nabooru's horse.

"Nabooru" he said as the horse began to trot away, "I have no idea where any of my possessions are or what I am going to do when I am back. But this feels pleasantly odd to be here out here with you."

"I'm glad" she replied.

* * *

The Gerudo fortress was located past both the Barn of Nubia where hundreds of people ventured to a day to watch horse races and lake Hylia, the largest resevoir in the kingdom and primary source of water for all of the major villages. Besides the scattered small encampments near lake Hylia and shanty-like towns near the Barn, there were very few things besides random beasts that roamed the expansive plains this side of the castle, and even fewer that roamed it at night. Nabooru was pleased to not run into any other Hylainians as she approached the cliff walls that led to the Gerudo fortress.

The Gerudos either by design or by force many years ago had sectioned themselves off to live on the farthest outreach of the kingdom. There was a small passageway up the cliffs that led to a multiple hundred foot drop down a canyon floor.

The Gerudo fortress itself was located across from this, and was connected to the rest of Hyrule by a sole tiny rickety bridge. The Gerudos of many years before even Nabooru's ancestors had built the fortress in a small outcropping from the cliffs and taken advantage of the natural tunnels inside of the fortress, the desert on the other side, and the canyon that divided them from the Hylanian plains to live in relative solitude and peace.

The downsides of this arrangement was that it was incredibly difficult to be self sustainable. Although they did their best, they often had to resort to trading from the people beyond the kingdom of Hyrule that lived past the mountains to survive. When that didn't work, they took it upon themselves to "borrow" necessities from the people of Hyrule.

When Nabooru reached the bridge to the fortress she and Ganondorf dismounted and walked opposite sides of her horse across the bridge and by the guard who looked to Ganondorf with an expression of pure shock. Nabooru slapped her horse's butt as it galloped away from her before motioning for Ganondorf to follow her.

She thought about where she was supposed to bring him exactly to explain to the rest of the Gerudo's about his return. Isle ran to greet Nabooru before stopping and simply staring in awe as Nabooru led him past her. Ganondorf followed Nabooru obediently to the Gerudo's stables where she pointed to a stable towards the back with a dark horse in it. Ganondorf walked to the stable and watched as the horse in it turned and rubbed him affectionately. He opened the horse's stable door as he led the horse out and able to come if he needed to call it. Ganondorf saw Nabooru looking at him again and he knew she still hadn't made up her mind about him.

"Could I see my old….", Ganondorf started but was cut off by Nabooru who looked up at him and said "yes, sure".

"Sorry" she apologized as Ganondorf seemed a little shocked by her sudden outburst. Nabooru was still worried, just right now he wasn't sure about what.

He quietly followed her as she brought him to the room where his throne sat while Gerudos peered into the room obviously surprised to suddenly see their king back. Ganondorf led Nabooru to a hidden entrance to a flight of stairs which Nabooru climbed silently to his old chambers. She waited in the entrance while he eagerly checked to see that surprisingly none of his stuff had been moved or damaged. Ganondorf continued to check on his possessions while Nabooru pulled out a scroll to review.

It had her orders about how to make sure he behaved, "Don't be doing any dark magic in there" she said as he turned to shoot her a look. When he seemed through with his obsessive checking he walked back to the room Nabooru was waiting in and sat on a couch directly opposite from her.

"I know you hate this right now" he said.

He couldn't tell if she trusted him or not, after all he had taken over Hyrule and had left her to fend with the terrifying two dark witches by herself. Nabooru gazed about his room before resting her eyes on where he was sitting.

She found her mind wandering to ponder how intensely she was supposed to be watching him. She still needed to report to the Spirit Temple today. It had occurred to her she might have to neglect a lot of her other duties while she was supposed to act as his watch dog. "Well" Nabooru said as she clasped her hands together.

"Well" he replied as he locked his eyes on hers. "It's late" he said, "where am I allowed to sleep". He frowned, "I feel a bit embarrassed having to ask you that." Nabooru simply raised her eyebrows and smiled, "I don't care".

She tried to think of something else to say as words temporarily eluded her. He opened his mouth to say something as well, but after staring at her awkwardly for another minute instead said what they both appeared to be thinking "I'm afraid of saying something wrong to you." She shrugged, "It's fine." Nabooru let her gaze wonder around the room, his chambers were one of the most extravagantly decorated in the fortress. She hadn't seen the place for a long time and it seemed so odd that she was supposed to be here standing in it.

"I'd like to stay in my own bed tonight" Ganondorf said as he stood to walk towards the other room. "That's fine" she replied. Nabooru waited until he had gone before exiting the room. It seemed safe to let him sleep alone and Nabooru felt uncomfortable in his chambers.

* * *

The next morning Nabooru woke up early after a few hours sleep and she crept back to where she had left Ganondorf. She still had responsibilities to take care of but two of the most important governing people in Hyrule had threatened her about leaving him unwatched. She walked back up the stairs to his chamber and entered to see Ganondorf still asleep, as it was only the early hours in the morning. Nabooru thought about leaving him sleeping but then shrugged the urge away and walked over to where he lay. Nabooru shook his shoulders gently and looked to see his eyes open and blink at her. He sat up as she stepped back and walked to exit the room. Ganondorf followed her obediently. "We're quiet this morning" he said after following her for a good five minutes. She offered a weak smile and turned back to continue mostly ignoring him.

Even before Ganondorf had been locked in the Spirit Realm Nabooru had always been short on words to say to him. As second in command she had influence and power in the community over everyone except for Ganondorf, who also could have taken it from her in a second. Now that she was finally in a position where she had slight authority over him, she still felt somewhat inferior. She knew in the event anything didn't happen, if it came down to her against Ganondorf, he would likely win.

Nabooru walked along a stone tunnel through the fortress, as she hadn't wanted to go out on the streets where there awaited many Gerudos who would all want to know how Ganondorf had just suddenly re-appeared. She continued swiftly along the back stone tunnels as she listened to various reports from guards and tried to sort out little problems that Gerudos would run and stop her for. Ganondorf stayed quiet as he listened to the various situations and the constant questions about himself. They had made it almost halfway through the day before Ganondorf finally broke and decided to try to talk to her again.

As they approached a small library at the end of the hall, Ganondorf stopped Nabooru and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Nabooru, why aren't you at the Spirit Temple" he asked. "I needed to collect the guard's reports" she answered not meeting his gaze.

Ganondorf frowned, "as I remember you used to have them brought to you at the Spirit Temple", he paused to keep himself from sounding worried, "why aren't you at the spirit temple?"

Nabooru lifted her eyes to meet his gaze "I can feel something is not right" she said. "It feels like something bad is over there, something bad will happen if I go". Ganondorf took his hands off of her shoulders as he almost sighed out of relief, Nabooru was just scared of something at the Spirit Temple. "I was worried you might be avoiding going because of me" he said sheepishly.

Nabooru felt a little relieved herself after admitting she was worried about returning to her temple. She turned to try and finish her what she could get done there but Ganondorf pulled her back to face him.

"You hate me don't you", Nabooru looked down and barely spoke a soft "yes".

"I mean no, well I did before" she turned from him, "I don't know if I can trust you," she admitted finally.

Ganondorf nodded to himself "what can I do for you to trust me" he asked. Nabooru shrugged, "when you do something like that I'll tell you." Ganondorf followed her silently as she proceeded to enter the library; she had talked to him at least.

In the library there sat a Gerudo with a map laid out in front of her on a small table. Nabooru sat in one of two small chairs at the table before motioning for Ganondorf to take the other.

"How nice to see you, Ruby" Ganondorf said addressing the seated Gerudo. The Gerudo named Ruby gave a nod towards her king before pointing to a feature on the map. Ganondorf immediately recognized the map as one that showed Hyrule and a few of the nearer countries around it, a map that could only be bought from a ranger who patrolled and knew what lie in between countries.

Ruby was pointing at a cliff labeled thief's bluff. Ganondorf looked at it then back to the two female commanders at the table around him. "The assassins hideout had been there" he said as Nabooru and Ruby both looked up at him.

"Yes" Ruby said, "we believe the group of assassins have come out of the group that originally used that same area as their hideout". Ganondorf shook his head, "Those ones all had blue hair. I'm not an expert in all of the races from the far-away lands, but only a few of these had blue hair. In general the new ones were a mixed group."

Nabooru stared at the map before turning to Ganondorf, "We have been suspecting something like this to happen for a while" she said as Ganondorf nodded for her to continue, "it has been rumored that some tribes of the outer thieves have banded together". Ruby nodded her head to what Nabooru was saying. "Nabooru and I were discussing the matter last night, but we can't seem to think what they would have wanted with you" Ruby added.

Nabooru turned back to the table, "or why they needed Mika and her friends" she said. Ganondorf shrugged, he was waiting for the questions about the offer he was given. "What did they want with you" Nabooru said narrowing her eyes at him. "Something about help to get the triforce and…."he said not really wanting to continue until the two Gerudos surrounding him started to look a little angry. "What else" Nabooru said knowing Ganondorf was hiding something. He gave in, "they wanted a leader, someone to help their army," he said now unsure of what he was saying, "they wanted me to help them beat the tribe".

Nabooru tried to muffle a gasp before allowing herself to sign in relief, Ganondorf had been asked to attack the Gerudo tribe and declined. "I don't know what they where thinking," Ganondorf said seeing the two Gerudos sigh a little, "they wanted me to help them destroy the race I am king of". "If you'd like to reclaim your old life as king I'm certain we'd be amenable to that" Nabooru replied, she neglected to say what she was really wondering - if this was all just an act before Ganondorf would move to make another ploy to either take over the country or try to reclaim the triforce for himself.

Nabooru continued to talk with Ganondorf and Ruby but couldn't help her mind from wandering to Ganondorf's earlier question about if there was a way she could trust him. When Nabooru seemed satisfied with their little meeting she stood and left the room. Ganondorf also got up to exit but noted that Ruby remained seated to place some other documents on the map and start to look over them. "Staying in the basement?" he asked as she smiled at him, "It's quiet down here. And this is important. I'd like to make sure we don't let these documents fall into wandering hands."

Ganondorf followed Nabooru back through the hall and was almost caught up to her fast pace when she whirled around and faced him. "Ganondorf" she started to say but then she stopped herself and turned away again. "What is it", he asked but she had already started walking away again. She stayed silent through the rest of the afternoon and she avoided walking by the gate to the Haunted Wasteland whenever possible.

Ganondorf was pleased to find a feast for dinner when the hour rolled around. He was happy to joke with old friends - almost happy enough to forget that Nabooru was still avoiding talking to him whenever she got the chance.

* * *

For the rest of the week Nabooru spoke little to even the Gerudo officers and avoided the gate to the Haunted Wasteland. Ganondorf had long given up on trying to communicate with her. She appeared so deep in thought he worried about causing her to snap. Nabooru on the other hand still didn't know if she could trust Ganondorf. And his constant presence was causing previous emotions about the torture she had endured from the sages and the common folk of Hyrule about him to build up.

At the end of the week, Ganondorf finally couldn't take it anymore. He decided to confront her at the end of the day on the stairs to his chambers. He stopped her near the entrance. "Why have you been so quiet" he said as he put one hand on her shoulder to keep her from turning away from him. Nabooru turned to look away, "I've been thinking too much" she said but Ganondorf continued to hold her by the shoulder. "I need to go to the Spirit Temple" she said as she took his hand and lifted it from her shoulder.

"Why don't you just go" he asked. Nabooru looked up to meet his gaze, "Something bad will happen", she said quietly, "I know it". Ganondorf felt slightly taken aback by the movement, he couldn't help thinking how pretty she was when she was worried. "That isn't all your worried about is it" he said, before deciding a slightly passive aggressive maneuver might get her to talk. Nabooru was again silent. Ganondorf turned and entered his chambers leaving Nabooru alone on the staircase.

She watched him climb the final steps before starting to turn herself. She knew that she would have to go to the Spirit Temple. It was where she lived, but yet she didn't want to go there alone. Right now, she didn't want to be alone, and she couldn't help thinking about all of the troubles she had while Ganondorf was away.

Nabooru took a step down before turning and running back up and threw the entrance to where Ganondorf was. She burst in and Ganondorf slowly turned around. Ganondorf was surprised as she came in and walked towards him. "Ganondorf" she whispered as she walked closer to him, "I'm sorry, there have been other things". Thoughts were rushing through her head.

"Ganondorf ever since you left" Nabooru said still quietly," the Gerudos have been looked down upon". She gulped and paused before lifting her face to meet his. "The sages have connected me with every bad thing you've done, the Hylainian marketers scream at us whenever we show our faces outside the valley, and outsiders keep coming to us for help with dishonorable things because they think we all know black magic."

"Your personal quest for the triforce has the majority of Hyrule against us, now that you are back the things people do will certainly get worse", Nabooru paused, "you did something so bad I worry some people might never trust you again – but I want to, I need your help." Ganondorf stood shocked at Nabooru's sudden admittance before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. "You can trust me," he said, "If there's one thing I can promise you - it's that you can always trust me. There's few things I wouldn't do for you Naby."

Nabooru let him hug her and rested her head against him. "We keep being attacked by bands of people who somehow make it across the desert or the bridge" Nabooru said, "I can't stop the attacks and they always come when I am at a Sages Meeting". Ganondorf pulled her onto a couch where he held her at arms length and said, "go on, I want to hear this". Disobeying her gut feeling to keep quiet Nabooru finally broke down. A few hours later she lay asleep leaning on him after telling him of everything she could think had been happening while he was gone.

* * *

When Nabooru woke up she found herself slumped against Ganondorf who was lying against the couch. Nabooru moved one of his arms so she could stand and assess what exactly she had done the night before. As she turned and let her eyes adjust to the dim morning light that filtered through some holes located around the top of the room. Ganondorf woke up and sat up on the couch before putting his head in his hands and rubbing himself awake. He stood and looked at Nabooru who gazed at him for a second then left the room. Ganondorf followed her silently and it became very obvious that she was headed towards the gate to the Haunted Wasteland.

When they reached the gate Ganondorf stopped her, "are you taking me with you" he asked. She nodded, "Even if I didn't want to I would have to" she said before turning and waving to the nightly posts watching the gate. Nabooru walked through the gate and headed to the river of sand where she had buried the end of the zip line she used to cross in the sand.

The journey to the temple was known for being incredibly arduous. With winds often up to 40 miles an hour for no reason and the hundreds of miles of desert that often had these odd streams of rapid moving quick-sand like rivers, it was difficult to walk through and even harder to see. The only creatures that seemed to be able to survive were the strange desert beasts that were also known to frequent the path to the Spirit Temple in an attempt to snack on unsuspecting Gerudos. There was one known safe "path" that led to the temple and avoided the sand rivers, but it was often incredibly difficult to see as the winds made the majority of the desert a large stinging wall of sand. Nabooru avoided the majority of this by sliding over the top of the beginning portion.

Nabooru uncovered the handle of the zip line then waited for Ganondorf to bring out his own version and they both shot out over to the other side. The trip after that wasn't very hard for either, Nabooru waved to the guide who led those that didn't know the way before stepping onto the memorized path to the Spirit Temple.


	3. Chapter 3 - Trouble at the Spirit Temple

Nabooru crossed through the familiar sands stepping like she always had while Ganondorf walked along side her. Nabooru was a little surprised that Ganondorf knew the path so well but then again.. he was the king. As Nabooru got nearer to the Desert Colossus she tried to suppress that awful feeling that made her want to turn back. She climbed under the wooden posts and walked up the steps to the Spirit Temple. At the entrance she turned to see Ganondorf still staring up at her from the bottom of the stairs.

"Aren't you coming," she asked. Ganondorf folded his arms. "Can I be sure you won't turn your entire temple against me when I go inside?" he replied. Nabooru smirked before turning to go in the temple as Ganondorf sighed and climbed the steps to join her side.

When Nabooru stepped inside the first thing she noticed was that her usual defenses seemed to have virtually disappeared. Only one pot of the typical two pots flew at her, the other was nowhere to be seen. Up the steps, the spell-enhanced stone guard statues were gone. There was no other noise and the only one small flame burned off to the side making it eerily quiet.

There was no light whatsoever and Nabooru looked about trying hard to see if anyone else was there. The only other once living things in that room appeared to be the charred remains of the two statues piled against a wall.

Ganondorf walked over near Nabooru and looked about the rest of the room. He turned his head trying to catch her eye but finding it impossible in the little light he instead tapped her shoulder. Nabooru shuddered a little but she quickly recovered and pushed Ganondorf in the direction of the huge silver door that had long ago been painted to look somewhat like the walls around it.

"Move that" she said following behind him a little.

Walking down the silent halls Nabooru would look through the dark to see certain items missing and creatures dead while torches also lay unlit. For his heavy armor, Ganondorf walked with a very experienced stealth. Other then the slight twitches from Nabooru stumbling over a misplaced object, no other sounds were made from them.

Nabooru walked towards the end of a particularly long hall and found a room she never used with the door slightly ajar. She gulped as she pushed it open just slightly and slipped in.

Inside the room was pitch black. As she took a few steps into the room, Nabooru heard a light scuffle in the opposite corner. She slowly stepped backwards to exit when she suddenly crashed into something behind her. On instinct she tried to immediately break away but the figure behind her quickly grabbed onto her waist and pulled her back.

"Nabooru calm down" the figure said as Nabooru realized she had just slammed into Ganondorf.

"We aren't alone in here" Nabooru said looking about her with a shiver.

Ganondorf pulled Nabooru a little closer towards him as a slight scuffle slipped behind him. "Stay here" he whispered in her ear before he walked around her and towards where he expected the center to be.

There was a soft noise in front of him and a few other scuffles against the walls. He opened his hand and chanted a few words before lifting it and watching as at first a dark ball of glowing energy appeared and slowly snaked out across the room before it exploded and shone a white light from the ceiling.

Ganondorf gasped in surprise at what else was in the room, from floor to ceiling long snake bodies pushed each other against the wall sliding and scuffling trying to move. Skinny snakes slipped about on the floor both avoiding and crawling over his boots. He turned still in shock to see the door they had taken blocked by a large snake's tail and the huge snake's head positioned right above Nabooru. Its mouth was open and its fangs gleaming.  
Nabooru was looking about the room - she had stopped shaking and started thinking, there had once been a band of thieves outside of Hyrule who used a snake as their symbol wherever they stuck, this band was the same one that had originally used thief's bluff as their hideout. Nabooru was rudely awakened from her small daydream when she heard Ganondorf yelling her name. She turned to see the fangs hanging over her and the large snake body coiled in a striking position. Nabooru looked up at it and it suddenly dawned on her that the snake still hadn't uncoiled or struck yet, she turned to Ganondorf.

"I would duck about now if I were you" she said as a large snake body propelled itself over her and struck at Ganondorf. Nabooru looked around her and realized that with the snakes so tightly knit there was no way to go back out the way she had come. Ganondorf was holding the snakes jaws together and the snake back away from him with amazing strength.

Nabooru didn't waste another minute in trying to break the snakes wall apart at another area where they where coiled looser and she knew to be an exit. Every time a snake was pulled away, a stronger and more dangerous snake replaced it.

Ganondorf had finally gotten the snake away from him and it lay in a corner passed out. He saw Nabooru having trouble and disobeying all gut feelings, he aimed a dark spark right where Nabooru was trying to break the door free. The blast hit the spot and Nabooru recoiled as the entire wall of snakes sizzled and died.

Nabooru turned to him, "if you do that in front of any other person in this country you realize they will send you back to the spirit realm so fast it'll make your head spin."

He nodded before walking over and opening the charred door. Nabooru grimaced as Ganondorf walked through like nothing happened. She just hoped Rauru hadn't been monitoring the Spirit temple while the expedition had happened.

In the next hallway behind the door Nabooru found the torches still lit and the random traps and such still dormant and ready to spring. Ganondorf again took his place behind her and walked silently while avoiding the various things his Spirit Sage kept checking. When Nabooru reached a small door at the end of the hall with a lock on it she turned to Ganondorf and smiled. "Nothing here has been broken into".

"They probably didn't know it was here" Ganondorf replied as he turned to see Nabooru headed back the way they came. As they came nearer to the snakes room Ganondorf boldly pushed in front of Nabooru and opened the doors first. This drew a frown from Nabooru; Ganondorf got bolder and pushier around her every day.

In the room the odor and sight of charred snakes were all about the room, and no live snake was to be seen. Ganondorf pushed through the mess as Nabooru tread lightly behind him to where they reached the far end and Ganondorf pushed his way out.

Back in the dark hallway Nabooru felt the usual tingling of anxiety creep onto her and she pushed back in front of Ganondorf to lead the way through the gloom. Not being able to stand it any longer, Ganondorf once again created a dark orb that flashed into white light and he shone it about the hall finally being able to see about him. Nabooru shrugged and continued on though she was relieved that he finally had offered to do that. They continued down the hall with Nabooru leading and the hallway about them began to look more gruesome. The remains of some creatures were either barely anything, like just a fragment of a bone, or bloody carcasses that splattered all over the wall.

Nabooru kept walking through she felt the eery tingling of that sense of not being alone every time she had to turn a corner. As she approached each bend she would almost feel to the point of pushing Ganondorf to check around first but then would gulp and continue on herself. After a quite a while of this wandering, Ganondorf began to notice something that made Nabooru feel a little creepy herself.

"Some of the creatures roaming around here" he commented, "These don't look like things that are loyal to the spirit temple."

"I think you're right" Nabooru replied, "It's looking like they must have come from the borderlands."

When Nabooru felt satisfied with her wanderings, she took an unexpected turn and headed back towards the Spirit Temple's living chambers. As Nabooru turned into a small hallway she saw a dark figure standing directly in front of her scamper away and throw something at her. Nabooru jumped backwards away from the object as it hit the ground and exploding sending her smashing into Ganondorf.

Ganondorf grabbed her elbows to keep her from falling and pushed her back into the hallway before he entered himself and looked around. He frowned at the remains of the object on the ground, and without saying anything else he stepped in front of Nabooru and started to check the surrounding rooms. The first rooms were completely ransacked. Nabooru walked in first to the next room and was glad to find that her chapel completely untouched. Ganondorf followed her into the next room were she walked towards the back to exam a singed tapestry.

"Ganondorf" she called, "what could have caused this?" As Ganondorf turned his head from where he was standing off to the side he looked just it time to see a small arrow suddenly shoot from the doorway and plunge itself towards Nabooru. Nabooru had turned around to talk to Ganondorf and as she moved her head back towards the entrance the arrow lodged itself in her stomach and she found herself clutching her stomach on the ground in pain.

Ganondorf rushed towards her where he kneeled by her side as the archer entered the room. Ganondorf watched as the archer took off her hood to reveal a blue head with two hazel eyes, the second in command to the assassin who had commanded his revivers.

He looked towards her as it dawned on him that they still wanted his help; Nabooru must have seemed in the way.

Ganondorf stood as four more hooded figures took the first's side. "It seems you no longer need to follow your guard here", the blue headed one said, "we have come to repeat our offer, we could let you have freedom again, and the control of a kingdom".

The figures standing near the blue headed ones all seemed to slightly nod at her words. Ganondorf had heard their full offer, and it was definitely more tasteful than this. He turned his head back to the fallen Nabooru whose blood was slowly creeping near his boots. "

We came here to get rid of her" the blue headed one smiled, "to get her out of your way, but we had expected her to come a long time ago". "And alone" one of the hooded figures piped up.

Ganondorf raised his eyes from Nabooru to the figure standing there with the ridiculous blue hair, "You, you're the second in command to your leader, no?" The blue haired figured nodded quizzically, "Well… yes."

"And" he continued, "does your leader care about you? Maybe as second in command to her you've noticed an abnormally large amount of trust in you.?" Her eyes widened as it became more apparent Ganondorf was livid.

"Maybe a little bias over the other guards?" he asked clenching his fists. A soft glowing light slowly surrounded Nabooru. It was slight though and did not disturb any of the other figures in the room. The blue haired girl nodded, "yes" she said, "she does seem to trust me a quite a bit."

Ganondorf's other fist clenched, "tell me, what would your leader do if you were ever hurt?" "Oh I wouldn't even want to consider that" the blue haired girl said while tensing. Ganondorf took a step away from the body of Nabooru and towards the group, "now what if I was your leader and you were Nabooru, what would I probably do to the group that had just shot you?"

The blue haired girl suddenly stopped smiling and looked back to Nabooru, "so you're saying she would be your second in command?" she said as she took a step back. He nodded slowly, "I don't care if she is a sage, but she's the best person I have behind me, and you just shot her."

The blue haired girl stuttered as she realized all advantages she had held in her deal with Ganondorf were slipping away, "But, but she betrayed you" she said trying to redeem herself. "She wouldn't" Ganondorf said taking slow steps just barely being able to control his anger. "No, no she was against you, she had a group of rebels…."the blue haired girl trailed off as she could see Ganondorf wasn't about to believe anything she said to him, and he was inching eerily closer to them.

The glowing light around Nabooru got brighter. Ganondorf picked up a little speed as he walked closer to the girl, he now knew he was no longer in control of his calm disguise and the girl he was headed towards clearly didn't like it. "Don't come any nearer" she said as she snapped her fingers and the four other figures broke into a protective formation.

The first two rushed at Ganondorf as he snarled. Ganondorf blocked the first one and sent the cloaked figure crashing towards the wall. The second was more prepared and blocked his punch to pull out a spear that it tried to point at Ganondorf. Ganondorf met with resistance and soon had a grip on the spear as well.

For a brief moment, he considered using dark magic again, a move that would have defeated all of them at once, but some respect of the fallen sage behind him kept him trying to control his growing anger on his own. The light above Nabooru grew brighter and assumed the shape of the spear being tugged from the guard. Not one other person in the room had seen this happen, and a sudden small explosion was heard that caused Ganondorf to let go in surprise. The guard wrestling for her spear fell backwards.

The light spear headed on a direct course with the blue haired girl and it seemed as if all was over for her when it was blocked by the body of one of the two guards who had been standing in front of her.

The spear went straight threw it and soon flashed turning the guard into a ball of light, then a pile of dust. The remaining guard in front of the blue haired girl shook with the realization that if the spear hadn't been on as direct a course with her missions blue haired leader, it might have hit her instead.

A boom was heard echoing throughout the temple.

Ganondorf looked about him before leaving the group to walk back to the fallen Nabooru.

Another boom was heard and bricks started to move from the walls.

Ganondorf scooted closer to Nabooru and hoped that whatever had been unleashed in the temple by its sages attack wouldn't come after him too. The blue haired girl looked to her remaining upright guard and two fallen before motioning for the one still clutching the spear to leave. Bricks from the ceiling fell and the guards pounding footsteps were heard. Booms continued to come and screams came from the hallway. The booms got louder and louder and one really long scream coming from what sounded like another man in the hallway were heard.

Ganondorf closed his eyes, he knew the blue haired girl had probably left one of her guards to fend against the creature that she had just unleashed. He bent down to stroke Nabooru's hair as the booms got louder and dust continued to fall from the ceiling.


	4. Chapter 4 - A Romance Reignites

Examining his fallen second in command, Ganondorf was almost ready to whimper. This lost him his most trusted companion and guard. He flinched as he also realized this might have lost him his chances of staying out of the Spirit Realm, unless he took the assassins offer.

He opened his eyes to hear the sound of the booms subsiding and a soft padding noise instead. Ganondorf ignored these and reached down to grab Nabooru's blood soaked hand. He was surprised to feel a soft pulse.

"Nabooru…?" he asked softly. She looked up in pain at Ganondorf's face. "Did you mean everything you said?"

He nodded before kneeling close to her. He pulled her arms of her stomach to reveal the rest of the arrow went all the way through. "Don't worry about it" she replied, "this is my temple, it tends to automatically help in these situations". The soft padding noise ended.

Ganondorf turned to see a small lizard like thing laying on the ground by him and looking straight at Nabooru. It suddenly leapt and grabbed onto the arrow with its mouth before quickly yanking it out and galloping off. As Nabooru fell doubled over in pain a glowing light surrounded her, and when it was gone, the pool of blood had disappeared and she was left unhurt. Ganondorf stared to where the lizard had disappeared.

"Don't worry about it" she said, "Saria's is a mushroom and Darunia's is a small Dodongo, Ruto's of course is a fish and Impa's, you don't even want to know, there like little helpers that always seem to show up in an emergency that has to do with us while we are in the temple". Ganondorf almost chuckled, "was this all you were afraid of" he asked. Nabooru nodded, "the lizard wouldn't have come if you weren't here" Nabooru said. She smiled at him, but Ganondorf knew this wasn't a good thing, he had to be labeled as the number one sages worst enemy.

Nabooru slowly stood up and brushed some dust off her. Ganondorf also stood and slowly started towards the exit of the room. He turned and waited for Nabooru to follow. "So are we on a talking basis now?" he asked as they entered the hallway. Nabooru paused for a second before nodding to Ganondorf, "Yes, for now". Ganondorf looked down to both ends of the hall, "Can we go back to the fortress or were you planning on staying here?" "If you don't mind we will be staying here for a little while, I don't want them coming back" Nabooru said as she turned and headed towards the other living quarters. Ganondorf turned and followed her.

* * *

The morning passed by quickly and quietly, all of the duties and clean up she hadn't been there to do took her the majority of the day and when the sun had started to set she still had plenty of tasks for the following day. When the sun started to set Ganondorf had asked permission to go sit on the Spirit Temple's steps and watch it. Nabooru allowed him to as it gave her time to go check on the back hidden chambers. When she had finished checking on the nearer ones she walked out to the entrance and from the light filtering in she knew that the sun had almost disappeared, meaning nightfall would follow shortly.

Nabooru stepped outside and was surprised when she looked out and Ganondorf was nowhere to be seen. She looked about her with a sudden adrenaline rush and was immediately relieved when she saw him lying down in the sand off to the side staring at the sky. She walked towards him and sat down by him not really in any hurry to go back inside.

"You know I haven't had a chance to watch the sunset in a long time" he said as he stared at the fading traces of light. Nabooru considered asking him why but stopped knowing he was obviously talking about being in the spirit realm.

Not knowing what to say exactly, Nabooru stayed quiet and folded her hands in her lap as Ganondorf continued to watch the stars slowly appearing. "Did you really trust me that much" Nabooru said trying to think of a way to phrase her thoughts, "before."

Ganondorf cut her off, "if you were ever thinking that I didn't trust you before my little triforce quest when you were simply my second in command, then I don't know how we had managed to work together so well for so many years" he replied.

"No I meant", Nabooru started, "I meant", and suddenly the thing she was thinking about just popped out, "then what about twinrova, you said you trusted and cared for me but it certainly didn't seem like it then".

Ganondorf considered this before replying, "that was a mistake, you were always at the Spirit temple and I just told them to watch you. I had never thought you were sage material. I guess I was a little blinded by the fact that you were my second in command. The two witches saw you and knew you were the spirit sage, so they did as they felt best. They were under my orders, but they took matters into their own hands, I didn't want that for you".

Nabooru sighed, Ganondorf telling her all this was draining. "I felt such a loyalty to you before you went on that quest" Nabooru started. She stopped herself from going further, Ganondorf still was unaware she had once rebelled against him.

"I would have trusted you with my life" Ganondorf replied. Nabooru turned and laid her head on Ganondorf's armored stomach. She felt a little bad for not trusting him. Especially when he seemed to care about her so much.

Ganondorf gazed down at her and tilted his head, "do you trust me now" he asked hopefully. Nabooru nodded, her conscience was killing her. Ganondorf stroked her hair before he sighed and was quiet. She didn't disturb him for the rest of the afternoon, it was never a good idea to bother him when he was deep in thought.

When the night air finally kicked in and the desert felt cold, Nabooru stood up and walked towards the Spirit Temple. "You leaving me?" Ganondorf joked. "I just didn't want to disturb you" Nabooru replied. He stood to follow her; and for a minute things seemed almost ok in the world.

* * *

Nabooru spent the rest of the week at the Spirit Temple. She had many duties to attend to and it surprised her how new messes kept popping up, especially when there were only two Gerudos in there to cause the mess. By the end of the week, Nabooru had gotten most of the duties done. She had given Ganondorf a little freer roam but she still kept a close watch. It took until the end of the week before she finally started talking freely with Ganondorf.

Every night, when the sun started to set Ganondorf would go outside to watch it. Nabooru would go outside when she finished with the days chores and sit there in the sand talking to her king until the night set in. Ganondorf had gotten closer to his goal, he wanted her full trust again. Right now it was the only way to be allowed to roam on his own, and it had the plus side of satiating his desire to spend more time with her.

Around the early evening as Nabooru was passing the entrance she was shocked to see the doors suddenly burst open. Nabooru loosened her guard as Ariel, a familiar helper around the temple walked in and cautiously peered around. Upon seeing Nabooru she ran up eagerly to hug her. Nabooru smiled as Ariel reached her but was again surprised to see the other girl jump to the side after something else startled her.

"Nabooru" she said in a soft voice, "is it true, is Ganondorf really, back?"

"Yes" Ganondorf said as he entered from the side making Ariel jump a little.

"Don't worry", Nabooru said seeing Ariel's small fright, "he's with us again, well I'm pretty sure he will be if he doesn't want to go back to the Spirit Realm" she finished.

Ganondorf sighed, "I had hoped getting my old lifestyle back would be easier…"

Nabooru smiled, "When Rauru feels he can trust you I'm sure he will let you free to roam." Ariel smiled at this and looked about the entrance to the temple, "need any help" she questioned eyeing Nabooru.

Nabooru nodded and Ariel ran off towards the living quarters. Turning to Ganondorf Nabooru once again grinned, "Soon, I'll make sure you can go back to having the authority over me, but for now just behave yourself". Ganondorf nodded and watched as she walked off to do some other unknown chore.

Not feeling up to going outside, Ganondorf retired to a back chamber of the temple and stayed there for the remainder of the evening. After finishing whatever she had been doing Nabooru went ahead and retired to her bedchambers. It wasn't until Nabooru had almost drifted fully off to sleep when she remembered her obligation to keep a close eye on Ganondorf. She sat up from the rough mat she had been laying on and went to the entrance of the room.

She had no idea where Ganondorf was and she didn't want to sleep until she knew he was safely asleep not harming anyone. She slipped softly into the hallway and padded past the room Ariel had claimed for the night into another hallway. As she turned a corner she had to stop very suddenly to keep from slamming into the large figure of Ganondorf.

"Where have you been" she whispered softly as she grabbed one of his hands and started to pull him back to the living quarters. Ganondorf followed her letting her pull him along. Nabooru led him back through to the entrance to the room she was sleeping in that night. "Now go to bed" she said in a playful tone while softly poking him in the chest and pointing at another room. Ganondorf looked to Nabooru then nodded leaving to the other room. Nabooru watched him leave her before she turned and went back into the room to sleep.

* * *

About two weeks after Ariel's return, Nabooru had finished just about every task she could so around the temple for the time. With nothing left to do she sat back down on the entrance's steps and watched the door hoping some messenger might bring her something. The odd thing was that other then Ariel, no other messenger of any type had come through with any reports. She had not been called to any sages meetings, but that was due to her having Ganondorf around and she knew they were waiting to see if he would try anything.

As Nabooru continued to stare and wait Ariel busied herself writing down something in an old book while Ganondorf walked into the room and watched the two of them. "Bored" he asked, and Nabooru nodded. Ganondorf walked to where she was sitting and he stood next to her. "Hey Naby", he started before stopping and correcting himself, "Nabooru, why haven't any reports of the fortress come through?"

Nabooru shrugged, "I don't know, I was wondering the same thing myself". She turned to where Ariel was leaning against a wall, "Ariel, what was happening before you came?" Ariel looked up from her book, "Wouldn't know, I was staying at the post by the river of sand before I heard you had come back", she said. Nabooru frowned, "So we haven't heard from them in about a month and none of us have any idea what is happening over there", she said with a worried tone in her voice.

Ariel closed her book, "Would you like me to take a trip there and back to check on them," she asked. Nabooru nodded, "That would be nice".

Ganondorf folded his arms, "when shall we expect you back?"

"I know the way, don't think I would take too long" Ariel replied smiling.

"Good", Nabooru said though she was wondering if it would have been better to go herself.

Ariel walked off and returned without her book, "I will be finishing a few things before I go" she said as she strolled past Nabooru into a hallway.

Nabooru sighed as she stood up and turned to Ganondorf. "Nothing to do" she said as he looked down at her. He lifted a hand and played with her ponytail, "I'm surprised", he said with a mischievous smile, "you aren't going yourself?" "Well" Nabooru started, "I don't want to leave just yet, I would have to go back to the constant watching you thing and it is a lot easier for Rauru to contact me here" she said.

Ganondorf stopped playing with her hair, "so you are tired of me," he said still smirking. Nabooru turned to face him directly, "why would you think that?" she asked as she felt him wrap his arms around her. Ganondorf pulled her close to him still looking down at her face, "When that sage finally comes to his senses and I can walk where I please, I am going to have to ask you to again be my second in command" he said softly. She looked up at his face and smiled before resting her head against his chest, that would be an offer she probably wouldn't turn down.

* * *

After Ariel had left later that evening Nabooru was left to wandering about with nothing to do. As she was walking down one of the last hallways one could explore without hitting the protected back areas of the temple she found a lighted room and after stepping in it and looking about she saw Ganondorf bent over looking at something off to the side. She looked towards him trying to make out what he was doing when he turned and looked back at her.

"Hello", he said before turning around fully, "come over here".

Nabooru walked to where he was standing as he turned around and pointed to a set of long beautifully engraved swords with matching curved white handles. Next to them was a similar pair in black. Nabooru ran her finger along one of the white sword's blade before looking over at the stone table they were arranged on.

"Where did you find these?" she asked turning to look at Ganondorf. "There" he replied pointing to a cabinet set on a wall opposite of them, "the white ones were already on the table". "Wonder how I could have overlooked this room before" Nabooru said softly to herself. She looked past Ganondorf to her left, there was a room connected to the one they were standing in.

"Do you know exactly what this area is" she asked curiosity tugging at her. He nodded, "This room is a storage place for weapons, and that appears to be a fighting arena". Slipping past him Nabooru walked into the other room and looked about her. The floor in the middle of the room was all sand and the ceiling was vaulted. Four torches were lit in each of the corners and she could make out the slightest shape of a locked chest in the very back of the room.

"Hey Nabooru", Ganondorf called from behind her. She turned just in time to catch the two white blades that had been thrown towards her. "Care to have a go" he asked picking up the remaining black handled blades. Nabooru smiled as she stepped out into the center of the arena and held her two blades in a fighting stance. Ganondorf walked opposite to her and lifted the blades to a stance of his own. The four torches surrounding the room flashed and Ganondorf moved in to clash one of the swords against Nabooru's awaiting defense.

It was a playful fight and the first clashes didn't go anywhere. Ganondorf swung one of his swords for a harder hit and almost cut Nabooru's back as she tried to block it and ended up on the ground with his sword tip pointed at her. He reached down and helped her up as she held up her swords again and round two was started. It started out like the first one had with nothing hard until Nabooru pulled a spinning slash and almost clipped Ganondorf as he jumped out of the way in surprise. The two started again and this time the Ganondorf threw hard hits right off of the bat while Nabooru lightly blocked them and scooted out of the way. After a few more rounds of hitting and blocking Ganondorf backed up and let his sword tips down.

"Come on, I've seen you do better then that" he said as she held her swords lighter and waited for another attack. Nabooru waited for a second before raising her two swords once more and coming in for a slash that knocked Ganondorf obviously off guard as he barely blocked in time. She spun around and tried again as he met her even while she was behind him. After continuing with her light taps mainly meant to knock him off guard Ganondorf once again started attacking himself. The two clashed swords for a long time and finally in the late evening did Nabooru drop her swords and then, tired and sweaty did she call it a night.

She picked up the blades and set them on the table as Ganondorf followed her back to the living quarters. She was surprised to see him follow her nearly all the way back to the bedchambers.

As Nabooru entered one of the rooms Ganondorf watched her from the entrance. She turned to face him, "yes" she questioned. He walked closer to her watching her follow his movements. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close not taking his eyes off of her. She didn't move and he held her for a few seconds.

Finally, he bent down and kissed her.

When he finally pulled away she kept her eyes closed and lowered her head. "Goodnight" he said as he pecked her on her forehead and let go of her. Nabooru opened her eyes to watch him leave her. She felt a whole sea of emotions as she went back to roll out a mat and sleep.

The following morning she woke up surprisingly early and after pulling on some clothing she got up and walked into the hall. She walked down the hall peeking in the rooms until she found the one Ganondorf was in. She slipped in to see him facing away from her and he quickly turned at her entrance.

"Good Morning Madame, did you sleep well?" he asked as he slipped on a belt and walked towards her.

Nabooru smiled, "are you going to be exploring again today?" she asked. He nodded, "you'd be surprised, it's like someone was hiding an army in here".

Nabooru didn't falter a bit, "oh, maybe". She turned and left the room. Ganondorf watched her saunter away before he left himself very curious about his findings.

The rest of the day Nabooru quickly finished her daily duties before waiting for Ariel to see if she would return. After waiting for a while she was surprised to find Ganondorf come up to her and pull her back into another room. In this room he had found another secretive chest containing swords and he was very keen on pointing out to Nabooru his discovery. The day ended similarly to the others and the following day seemed like a repeat. Ganondorf had sorted through the weapons in both places and found another hidden one.

The third day from when Ariel had gone missing left Nabooru a little anxious still wanting to hear from her people and although Ganondorf went on acting indifferent she knew he probably wanted to check on them more then she was. About five days from when Ariel had left Nabooru now felt worried as all of the other times previously when Ariel left she would normally return within a day or two.

As Nabooru leaned against a wall feeling quite concerned about Ariel's disappearance, she wasn't shocked to see Ganondorf interrupt her with his usual gusto. He walked into the room to grab her arm. Obviously he had made another discovery. The difference this time between the other rooms she had seen was that the doorway she was led through showed signs of once having a door and she wasn't surprised at seeing a broken down door a few feet from where she stood. She was led past the broken door to a single platform in the middle of the room where a sword lay.

Ganondorf stopped few feet from the platform and Nabooru walked to the center to look at it. It had a white handle with a small design that resembled the spirit medallion. She picked it up softly and turned it over and found the back of the blade to have engraved in Gerudo "the spirit". She held the one sword up and was pleasantly surprised to find it lighter then in looked.

She turned to Ganondorf who was still a few feet away. "Is something wrong?" she asked. He shook his head, "I am sure it was more meant for the Spirit sage to handle" he said watching her spin it in her hand. She smiled before walking towards Ganondorf and letting the blade dangle from her hand.

"Shall we go now" she asked looking at him. He turned and left the room with her following. Nabooru hid the blade before walking back to the entrance and to wait for Ariel.

After finding the many weapons around the Spirit Temple Ganondorf was now a little suspicious. Ariel's disappearance was minuscule to the worry that someone might have been planning a revolt against him in the Spirit Temple. It never even crossed his mind that it might have been Nabooru who hid the weapons for that purpose.

* * *

One week after Ariel had left Nabooru was no longer able to hide her worry. She met Ganondorf in the entrance hall and although he was trying to talk to her, couldn't stop looking towards the doorway.

Ganondorf sighed, "Would you like to go to the fortress yourself?" he asked as she finally turned her eyes back to him.  
"Yes" she said, "get ready to cross the desert very soon".

"Nabooru" he started before she could walk away, "All of the weapons in here..." "Yes?" she asked. "How did you not find them before?" "Why would I have looked?" she replied as she jokingly lifted up her pant leg, "After all I'm always heavily armed." Ganondorf snorted as she walked back towards the temple, "Get ready to go please!" she called.

He looked to Ariel as he replied with a sarcastically enthusiastic "ok."

The real question still lingered on his mind and it made him a little angry, _Who was trying to revolt against me?_


	5. Chapter 5 - Soldiers at the Fortress

The shifting sands moved each time she took a step closer to her destination. Nabooru tried not to hurry too much or stray off the path and found herself constantly plagued by the need to turn around and make sure Ganondorf was still following her.

After she had crossed the river of the sand and was nearing the fortress she saw something was not right. A single figure lay slumped against the outer wall and there was no post at either of the two tower's overlooking the desert. Nabooru rushed to the figure and was surprised to see that it was Ariel.

"Ariel?" she asked softly as she kneeled next to her. Two eyes fluttered open to look at Nabooru, "soldiers have taken the fortress over" she said, "they managed to cage up all of the fighters and scholars alike".

Nabooru stood and waited for both Ganondorf to reach her and Ariel to stand against the wall. "So" she started turning to her king, "Looks like we are going on a rescue mission. Now's your chance to prove how trustworthy you are, hopefully you can score some points for yourself in Rauru's eyes". He nodded as she turned back to Ariel.

"Do you know where they have scouts positioned?" Nabooru asked. "I wouldn't know, they change it a lot. They seem to know what we are capable of" Ariel replied. Nabooru frowned turning back to the fortress's entrance, "if the think they know us, then I'm here to prove they have no idea."

She slipped through the large gate to see no guards near the gate but a large group marching back along a road that led to the Hyrule entrance. When the guards backs were turned she slipped across the road to crouch behind a crate while Ganondorf strolled across and crouched down beside her. When the guards again had their marching backs turned she crept into a doorway and stepped into the fort.

Right away she saw a guard with his back facing her turn to see her come in and right before he could call out anything she covered his mouth and knocked him out with her elbow. She quickly reached down to pull off the guard's sword when she felt Ganondorf suddenly knock her to the side behind another crate as a guard came walking down the hallway.

She kept quiet as the guard checked out his companion and turned to call for more guards. Ganondorf lifted the crate they had crouched behind and threw it at the man's head. Nabooru stood and took the remaining sword from the other guard before tossing it to Ganondorf and continuing down the hallway. As they came to the next hallway Nabooru had to throw herself back into Ganondorf to avoid being seen by the next patrolling guard who marched across the pathway whistling.

When he had turned his back to them she peered out before darting across and following the next hallway along. As she was walking along this she passed another hallways in time to see a guard walk out and look directly at her. She took the handle of her sword and knocked him out as another guard walked down the hallway she was standing in and looked up at her surprised. Ganondorf suddenly materialized behind him and punched him in the face, knocking him out cold as well.

"How many of these guys are there," she whispered breathing a little hard. These guards seemed ridiculous, they were not placed in strategic positions and there were two or three to every hall that one could do just fine.

Ganondorf was looking elsewhere, as he meandered down another hallway. Waking up from his daydream, Ganondorf looked to see Nabooru now further down the hall and peering around a corner. He quickly caught up with her and immediately pulled her by her arm back as a hidden guard rounded a corner with its back turned not noticing them standing about 20 feet down from him. Nabooru shrugged off Ganondorf's grip on her arm as she started boldly around a corner and walked down it. As she was walking she noticed some odd noises coming from a room she knew contained a prison cell and on some instinct she knew it probably contained a Gerudo instead of one of the normal intruders they tended to find.

Walking closer to the room she peered into it to see two guards and a struggling Gerudo whose outfit showed her as one of the higher ranked members of the Gerudo counsel. Relying on stealth, Nabooru tried hard to make a subtle eye contact with the caged Gerudo as she stood at a diagonal path to the door. When the caged Gerudo finally looked up towards Nabooru's direction Nabooru finally had a good glimpse of her face and was able to recognize her as Renova, a smart thief who would be easy to break out.

Renova looked towards the guard who was staring at the outside entrance as if expecting someone to walk in. She bent down and reached out of her cage as if grabbing something before pulling her fist back in and putting it behind her back. The guard saw this and came towards the cage door, "what did you take" he demanded bellowing out his words like a military commander. R

enova shrugged and stepped back in the cell while the guard thrust his arm through trying to grab her. While he fiddled about with his arm stuck in the jail cell Nabooru crept up behind him and before he could see what had happened she knocked him out with a blow to the head. Moving quickly she searched the guard for a key and after finding none moved to the lock that she easily picked from the outside and let out Renova.

Not asking a question Renova grabbed the guard's feet and Nabooru his arms before the both heaved him back into the cell and Nabooru refitted the lock. They stepped into the hall and were met by the grinning face of a guard. "Ohh I've got you now…" he started to say before there was a loud thunk and the guard collapsed in front of them. Ganondorf stepped around the collapsed guard grinning himself and he held out an arm ushering the two-Gerudo women down the hall.

Nabooru led with Ganondorf following behind them and Renova floating between the middle and Nabooru's side. She reached the end of another corridor and peered out before throwing herself back in as another guard swaggered by. The three Gerudos slipped by him while his back was turned and knocked out a wide eyed guard as he was surprised by the hilt of Nabooru's sword. They took a familiar route to the next jail cell and found Semalie and Taint, two other higher ranked members locked in the same cell both surprisingly quiet and ignorant of the three guards standing outside the cell with confused looks on their faces.

Seeing no way of catching their attention while their eyes were closed, Nabooru and Renova snuck up behind the guards and swiftly knocked them out. The same procedure was used and when they reached the hallway they found Ganondorf waiting for them, with a few more of the guards swords.

The next jail cell seemed deserted. A single Gerudo was slumped in the back holding her head in her hands and there was no guard in sight. Being cautious, Nabooru waited at the doorway while the three other Gerudos kept watch, Ganondorf had disappeared again. When after a few minutes nothing in the room moved Nabooru began to slowly slip into it ready at once to jump back out. The Gerudo in the cell shivered slightly and a soft noise was heard from above her head. Keeping her sword pointed down as if she wasn't expecting anything she walked slowly towards the jail door. When she was within reach of the lock a guard suddenly swung from the ceiling and lifted a long heavy sword that he pointed at her.

This guard was different, he was bigger, muscular, and wore less armor with more weapons. Nabooru lifted the smaller guard's sword with a practiced ease and watched as the guard swung around trying to separate her from the cell door. At first he swung at her while she dipped and jumped out of the way, refusing to move from her position by the door. Muffled noises were heard from the hall, some guards had spotted Renova, Semalie, and Taint. Nabooru continued to dodge the guard's attacks, the sword she was holding was frail in comparison to his huge sword he had trying to hack away at her. Carefully watching the lock she tried to stay away from his blade so she could free the locked Gerudo though every time she backed up he swung harder and sent her a little more off to the side. They continued battering like this, her jumping and his swinging and it was speeding up as she tried to avoid it.

When one swing came to close she finally jumped far away from the cage door. It was hard not backing into the hallway so she continued going sideways until she was pinned with the wall behind her. Seeing as she could jump away no longer, she finally lifted the sword and blocked one of his swings. Sparks flew and tiny hunks of metal left her small sword. The guard gave another swing and Nabooru ducked to avoid it before he sent it backwards causing her to lift her blade from her crouched position. She was pushed closer to the floor as the small sword started to look like it was sagging. The guard lifted his sword again and she jumped up only to be knocked backwards against the wall as the impact of the sword sent her flying and snapped the sword off of the hilt leaving her only the jagged ends left. She sank back against the wall holding the remains of the sword as the guard smiled and walked towards her lifting his sword.

Looking up to his face, she lifted the small remains of the sword. He swung and knocked it from her hand. He lifted his sword and she looked up at him, defenseless. The pile of the shattered remains of the sword was in a heap a few feet from her, and the handle was useless lying beside her. He swung down hard and she closed her eyes, there was a loud noise in the hall but she hadn't been paying any attention to it while she had been against this brute. The sword came down when suddenly it stopped and Nabooru opened her eyes to see sparks flying from another sword blocking his from her. Ganondorf stood a few feet from the guard trying to block the heavy hit at the awkward angle he was at.

Although in a small daze Nabooru still had enough sense to see Ganondorf blocking her from getting hit from the guard's right and an opening on the guard's left which she quickly crawled to and headed back towards the cell. She couldn't see where the Gerudo in the cell was and the lock seemed impossible resisting all attempts at her picking it. The guard and Ganondorf were squaring off, the guard having a heavy sword and Ganondorf wielding a strong one. Each swung sliced metal and Nabooru was still working at the impossible lock. Ganondorf raised his sword for an upper hit, when the guard blocked he spun and sliced the guard's side. The guard at first grabbed for his side but then lifted his sword and charging though not at all catching the Gerudo king off guard. Nabooru resorted to other matters, when the guard grabbed his side she dove past him and picked up a sword shard cutting her hand. She slipped out of the way of his charge and went back to strike the lock with the shard and was rewarded when it clicked and started to slide off. The guard turned its attention back to Nabooru and as it walked closer to her Ganondorf once again struck at him now slicing though his back and leaving it a bloody mess.

When the lock slipped some more she struck it again. A noise was heard coming from the hallway. The guard struck again only to get cut again. The noise was louder and screams were heard. Nabooru struck the lock again her hand now gushing blood, she almost had it. The sound grew louder, and louder, then it stopped and there in the doorway stood another massive guard, more heavily armored then the first and wielding a very large sword. Ganondorf blocked the first guard's coming assault then was distracted by the second guard and he felt his first hit from the guard on his shoulder. Nabooru finished the lock, she kicked open the door only to spin and see the second guard's massive blade slicing towards her.

A large flash accompanied something that Nabooru suddenly held in her hand to block the second guard's sword. The men left in the room dimly tried to adjust to what she was holding while Ganondorf hit the first guard in the chest and threw him at the wall. The guard still standing blocked his eyes only to receive a painful slash from the sword Nabooru was holding. When the guard swung blindly again he cut through the cell door and exposed the Gerudo inside to an escape. Nabooru swung again with her white blade, the white blast finally fading away it revealed the sword Ganondorf had earlier found and pointed out to Nabooru. Nabooru swung at him one last time and sent him flying towards the wall as she ran into the cell towards the slumped Gerudo.

The Gerudo inside looked up weakly when Nabooru entered and used the wall to stand up. "Isle" Nabooru exclaimed surprised. Isle looked to Nabooru and fell against her revealing a deep wound on her back. Nabooru leaned Isle against her shoulder as she balanced her sword and left the cell to see the once surprised guards slowly starting to stand again. Ganondorf met her eyes and nodded as he walked towards the first guard slumped nearer to him. Isle stopped leaning on Nabooru and grabbed the remains of the doorway for support. The remaining guard slumped against the wall started to lift his sword and look for Nabooru in a drowsy stupor. She swung with the white blade leaving a mark in his armor looking like an x combined with the previous slash she had delivered.

The guard slumped to the ground and Nabooru sliced at his hand as he dropped the sword. She lifted the fallen blade and pointed it and her white sword at the guard's throat. On the opposite side of the room Ganondorf had done something similar and the guard now lay unconscious while Ganondorf proceeded to strip him of some of the weapons he had adorned himself with. Nabooru lifted the guard's sword and let it fall conking him on the head and making him slip into an unconscious state.

Appearing in the hallway entry were the three previously rescued Gerudos along with three more, Ruby included. Next to Nabooru and Ganondorf, the seven now freed were the next highest ranked council members all very skilled and smart. The majority of them looked to be all right and only Isle seemed to have had a guard that beat her. "Where have they locked up everyone else?" Nabooru asked to no one in particular as she walked to Ganondorf's side and handed him the fallen guard's sword. Ganondorf took the sword from her and looked to the rest of his council who were looking at him expectantly, Isle being helped by Taint. Isle looked towards the outside exit, "the majority are outside in cages, very very small cages". Cere and Lyiamere, the two Gerudos that had been locked with Ruby both looked towards her confused. "You escaped" Cere asked. "Yes" Isle replied, "they put me under heavier guard". Nabooru nodded the information confirming the two guards that now lay unconscious and she leaned into Ganondorf as the seven Gerudos continued to talk. "What now" she whispered as Ganondorf dropped his head slightly to listen. "We go outside, and we find the rest of them" he replied draping an arm over her shoulder and slightly leaning on her. Nabooru looked towards him and frowned, "you know I could use a better answer then, that". Almost grinning Ganondorf looked back at her, "do you think I know any more about this then you do?" he asked watching her turn her head away from him. Nabooru stopped frowning as Ganondorf stopped leaning on her and turned to the rest of the Gerudos. "Isle" they both said at the same time before they looked to each other. Nabooru looked back to Isle with a triumphant smirk, "when you said the majority, did you mean there are still some locked away inside?"

Isle turned to her two leaders and nodded, "yes, I didn't count but I am sure they have more of us locked away somewhere though not all in guarded jail cells". Ganondorf let his arm fall from Nabooru's shoulder, "if there are still some left inside" he started to say before Nabooru interrupted him, "then some of us will go free those and the others go outside". Ganondorf nodded, "I will take one or two of you with me, the greater number needs to stay with Isle". "I've changed my mind" Nabooru suddenly spoke up before she turned and quieted her voice to talk to Ganondorf alone, "We should stay inside as much as possible, they will have greater numbers outside and we have stealth inside". He met her eyes as she said this and nodded, "you are probably right," he said before he pecked her on the forehead and turned back to the seven other Gerudos who were waiting patiently. Nabooru wasn't as surprised by his behavior and she turned to face her counsel as well. "Change of plans" he said, "Seems like we will be releasing any Gerudos inside first, though we should still split up for stealth purposes". Nabooru looked up at Isle, "I want Ruby, Lyiamere, and Cere paired, take whatever pathway you can find and don't be shy on taking out the guards. Taint, Semalie, and Renova stay with Isle and us until we find the healer room, there I want Taint to stay with Isle until you can find that fairy someone hid in there a while ago. Semalie and Renova take another pathway and if you meet up with either of the other groups join them, although we can cover more ground apart we can release more Gerudos together." Ganondorf looked to Nabooru, "Very good" he said before turning to the seven others, "don't let yourselves get caught, and remember the armory rooms, if you head there first you can stock up". The seven Gerudos nodded then paired off and disappeared in opposite directions down the hall. Ganondorf let his arm fall around Nabooru's waist, she looked to him ready to shrug it off but he had a worried expression on his face. "How many of them have fought recently," he asked. "I know Isle has, and Renova does a little training once a week but the others have all been very busy and…" she trailed off as Ganondorf put his finger to her lips. He walked towards the hall, "they are all gone, put the guards in the cell and try to fix the lock you destroyed". Nabooru looked towards the much heavier guards and frowned as she tried lifting one up by the elbows and inched her way towards the cell. Ganondorf turned to see her struggling before he stepped behind her and grabbed over her arms to pull the guard into the cell. Nabooru let go and turned towards him, she smiled "will you be getting the other guard then?" Ganondorf nodded as Nabooru turned to work with the lock.

Down the hall Isle staggered her way with her escorts as they stopped at each corner and waited for the guard to come by before Renova would reach out and knock him unconscious. The progress was slow and Isle was starting to leave a trail of blood so the thieves all turned up a notch trying to help her. By the time they reached the room, two guards were trailing them down the hallway and they had circled around a few times trying to avoid them. Semalie began the search of the room, every loose brick was moved and every corner scoured. When she came up with nothing she looked to Taint, who began her search checking some areas looser and others tighter. By the time Renova was called to help, every inch of the small cubicle had been searched. Isle leaned in the doorway watching, taking in some feeling of superiority to her currently incompetent peers. When each failed Renova finally turned to Isle, "okay do you know where it is?" she asked as Isle left the doorframe and moved jaggedly to the center of the room. Isle raised her foot, and stomped twice, the brick underneath her moved and out came a little red fairy that soon circled around her and was gone. Isle smiled and flexed her arms as her pain disappeared; she then motioned for Renova and the four of them left to unlock any other Gerudos.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Cere had discovered a locked room that had mysteriously had a door installed. Lyiamere was down the hall from them looking for a guard to tackle for a sword while Cere worked at bashing it down. Ruby was searching around it for the hinges, trying to pull the crude devices out by hand. Ruby had managed to pull out the first hinge, roughly put on and easy to screw out. Lyiamere had bashed down two guards, neither of them carried swords, so she continued to stay and smash guards, having a small pile of unconscious bodies next to her. Cere smiled as Ruby pulled away at the second hinge, "Kind of like a raid, except on our own fortress", she said leaning on the wall in some sort of glorious gloating. Ruby nodded not trying to loose her concentration. "Makes you wonder" Cere started to say to Ruby before stopping and going back to gloating. Lyiamere turned from the newest guard who she had gagged and held to look to Cere who was now looking off elsewhere in a dreamy stance. She shrugged before hitting the guard on the head then searching him, to her delight, he had a sword.

Ganondorf and Nabooru were walking side by side as they slipped through a deserted hallway. The passageway they were taking was not known to many people, as it served no purpose when they weren't trying to sneak around. Nabooru sighed as Ganondorf floated by beside her, silent and getting more confident in his doings. Rauru had been trying to prevent him from being confident around the Gerudos, but it was hard with such a community like the Gerudos to use outside influence and succeed. They reached the end of the hallway and Nabooru slid through a trap door down a latter with surprising memorized practice for not taking the pathway very often. She turned to see Ganondorf behind her and she started walking again, they were headed towards the throne room where it appeared to be more thickly blocked by guards which they hoped was the sign of maybe a leader of the guards or of more jailed Gerudos.

Nabooru hugged the edge of a wall as a guard passed by absolutely oblivious to her presence. She waited until his back was turned completely around and just for good measure grabbed the large bag bulging with rupees hung on the back of his belt. Ganondorf watched her pull the tricky maneuver before quickly ushering her and her new treasure away from the clueless guard still marching away from them. It was easy to slip by the guards around this area, they would walk by talking to themselves and so lost in thought that one could have simply stayed to the side and walked by all of them if out of their line of sight. This meant that for two professional thieves like Nabooru and Ganondorf, the guards were meaningless as well as subjects to be robbed that led to acquiring a few bows and swords that were dropped off in a cabinet along the way.

As Nabooru and Ganondorf neared Ganondorf's throne room the amount of guards in the hallways intensified greatly and soon the two thieves had to revert to waiting around the corner then dashing. It became very obvious that the guards had centered their efforts on keeping control of the building by setting up in the center. A very good method for the Gerudo's fortress, for it had been designed originally so the king was in the center though towards the back and could always easily issue and receive orders and reports. Another thing that was soon becoming obvious was that the way the guards had taken over which seemed to be so due to the large number of fighters. The Gerudo's highest troops were not actually at the fortress at this time, they had other missions like raiding some of the borderland travelers as they entered hyrule and protecting the fortress from the various fiends out far in the desert.

Another corner was rounded and Ganondorf still tried to keep in the steady hurried pace of Nabooru. It seemed as if Nabooru was trying to find a new way to the throne room for every turn she could go straight through on she passed and instead went for a wide circling path. Ganondorf had started to have little urges to just turn and leave her, but he wasn't sure what Nabooru's plan of attack was and he didn't want to ruin whatever she was trying to do.

As Nabooru once again missed an entrance to the throne room Ganondorf couldn't help but stop in wonder. "Where do you think you are going?" he asked confused. "This way" she replied not stopping. "Then I think I will just go down here" he stopped and looked to her daringly. She turned, "And leave me all by my lonesome? I don't think Rauru would like that very much". Ganondorf grimaced, "why don't you want to go to the throne room?" This made Nabooru stop completely and walk towards him, "who said I wasn't going to the throne room?" She frowned up at his face; he was obviously annoyed with her. "Circling around won't get us anywhere, if it seems like the guard's leader is in MY throne room then we should go to the throne room and one of the last entrances to it is right here" he said pointing down a hallway. Nabooru looked to where he was pointing before extending her arm, "then go there already". Clenching his fists in rage he tried to keep himself under control as he grabbed her wrist and started to pull her down the hallway. On instinct Nabooru stopped as he tried to drag her and she started to lightly struggle. "What you don't want to go" Ganondorf said as he stopped to glare at her. "No" she replied, "I would rather take a different way". Stopping Ganondorf looked to her now back to being confused, "what other way did you plan on going" he asked. She smirked, "take this way since you feel so confident about it, I will just have to meet up with you later". Ganondorf's grimace turned to a frown as he nodded, "fine". He released her wrist and left down the hall leaving her by herself.

A guard walked down a hall to a large room with a door in the front knocked down and tons of open cages stacked on top of each other. The guard looked about cautiously before stepping in and walking through the rows of cages. He looked down the last row and saw a single Gerudo standing there picking a lock. "Hey" he bellowed as he charged towards her. The Gerudo smashed the lock with her hand and ran as a Gerudo slipped out of the cage and followed her. The guard walked to where they had run to and was shocked to find it empty except for a large pile of guards on the floor. He stared at this confused, and then he blacked out.

Standing in the center of the large room by the pile of guards, were the seven members of the Gerudo council. Isle, third in command to Ganondorf and second to Nabooru stood in the center as the head of the council. Renova, Taint, Semalie, Ruby, Cere, and Lyiamere also stood by her all facing a large crowd of previously rescued Gerudos. Isle beamed at them, "Our king and general are busy fighting these invaders at their source, the throne room. So I say we go and finish the job, lets get their guards!" The crowd all nodded and some cheered as they split into sections to fight the guards. Being that the guards and fighters were locked outside, not many of the Gerudos rescued from the room were known for fighting so they were relying on numbers instead. The seven council members also divided themselves and together, the group left the room off to terrorize the intruders wandering their fortress.

Ganondorf looked about him cautiously as he entered the final hall to the throne room. He was worried, worried he might be surprised, worried Rauru would throw him back in the sacred realm, and worried that Nabooru would get hurt or reach the leader before him on her own. He walked at a steady but hurried pace, he normally didn't work alone for these types of things though he had much practice from single handedly taking over hyrule. He reached the end of the hallway and took his first step into the throne room. A large panel of guards surrounded a man to heavily clouded in armor to be recognized. A guard armored like the two fought back in Isle's cell was talking to the armored man and Ganondorf noted that the man was sitting in his throne. Ganondorf looked about him still unnoticed and saw no trace of Nabooru, or a passageway she could have been talking about. He took another step into the room and a guard must have heard this for he started to look about cautiously startling a few other guards.


	6. Chapter 6 - Ganondorf Takes Care of it

Sitting on the Gerudo's throne Eldon moved uncomfortably in the armor. Eldon wasn't a very strong man and he had a small build so he had pretty much been swallowed by the large armor. He was one of the higher ranked members of the king's council, though not favored by Zelda or her current lover Link.

He looked about him as the guard that he had been talking to stared uncomfortably. "Someone else is in here with us" the guard said looking towards the passageway Ganondorf had come from. Three of the guards slipped off from the formation and began to walk the sides of the room. Hiding behind a pillar, Ganondorf sat in wait.

Eldon stood from his seat and parts of his armor slipped off of him and sagged to the floor. Not being able to stand it any longer he threw off the heavy metal and picked up a sword to try and fend off the attacker. The guards still looked about them confused, fighting a prepared Gerudo was impossible. Ganondorf slipped to the next pillar with plans of attacking the small poorly armed man, Eldon, standing and looking quite ridiculous.

Raising his sword, Ganondorf slipped to the final pillar and waited for the guard scouring that side of the room to come near him. As soon as the guard was within his range Ganondorf let his sword slide into position and he slipped out quickly to jab the guard and drag him behind the pillar while knocking him out. A guard noticed Ganondorf's quick movement and looked to see a black figure coming at him. With two guards down Ganondorf knew his hiding place had been discovered so he slipped to another pillar and laid in wait. A guard walked towards him slowly and in a few stabs the guard was down as well. Slipping behind another pillar Ganondorf could see he was slowly terrorizing the guards, exactly as planned.

Eldon dispatched his guards to check the pillars and sent a few down the hallways to bring in help. Seeing Eldon unguarded Ganondorf took his chances and came out spinning at him planning to chop him into pieces. Two guards immediately blocked their leader while Eldon shakily stepped backwards and watched Ganondorf defend himself from two heavy swords both coming at his chest. As he slashed out his sword to block one of the guards hits the other guard sliced his back making him cry out in pain and leaving him unprepared for the other guards attack on his front.

The surrounding guards formed a circle around Eldon and backed to the corner of the room while two more of the guards came at Ganondorf. Now barely able to defend himself Ganondorf was attacked from all angles and was taking in gashes that bled badly. He swung around and was able to knock out one guard but that still left three and in his angered and beaten state he couldn't seem to summon any of his spells that wouldn't get him locked away, leaving him with his black magic which of course would get him locked up.

As he the guard to his left lifted his sword to chop off Ganondorf's arm, Ganondorf swung hitting him squarely in the chest and knocked him to the floor. Now with a place to escape, Ganondorf jumped to his left and lifted his sword to see the guard on the floor recover and the remaining two come at him again. As he tried to get a fighting stance against the pains and blood the guards continued to come, ready to fight him to the death. The guard on the floor recovered and jumped up to charge through the other guards right at Ganondorf.

As the guard came near Ganondorf with his sword raised Ganondorf weakly swung his sword to block off the hit. Ganondorf started stepping backwards trying to avoid the guard. The guard came at him again and when Ganondorf deflected the hit his sword was knocked from his hand.

The guard recovered again and charged one more time almost making Ganondorf want to shut his eyes when something jumped in front of him and swung at the guard's chest knocking the guard to the floor. The figure in front of him danced about hacking away at the guard when he tried to stand and preparing herself for the two guards coming at her. Ganondorf smiled as he picked up his sword and watched about ten more guards rush from Eldon to fight the figure who was now easily knocking out the two guards. Ganondorf put his sword in its hilt and chanted a small spell while the female in front of him danced about the ten guards expertly. About two seconds later a black cloud sped around the female figure and took out all ten of the guards. The figure turned to smile at Ganondorf then rushed towards the remaining guards and Eldon. Ganondorf chuckled to himself, "thank god for Nabooru," he whispered before he to rushed towards the remaining guards.

Eldon ran out of the circle to the outside making snide comments to himself. He ordered his men to "take care of business" in there while he went out the back way to boss around the guards outside. It was impossible controlling something held by the Gerudos, and he knew that if the troops had returned his reign wouldn't have lasted the small period of time that it did. As he jogged past a hallway he found himself widening his eyes and running faster as down it was a Gerudo hacking away at a series of guards trying to attack her. He was also a little frightened by the two Gerudos that had attacked him in the throne room, although badly beaten they both took out his four best guards with ease, and with a spell knocked out the rest.

Outside a sorcerer waited while Eldon came running. "Ax "he yelled, "Ax how are the guards outside". Ax the magician bowed his head while Eldon approached him, "fine" he replied, "how about inside?" Eldon shook his head wildly, "apparently their king is back and I swear I saw the Spirit Sage taking out our elites". "The Spirit Sage" Ax exclaimed, "I would have never thought her to be more then a mere scholar". "No, she is definitely a fighter in their community, I would never have guessed either" Eldon said looking to the inside before regaining his posture and looking out at the caged Gerudos who all were looking very bored and under careful watch in case one of them picked a lock or broke out.

* * *

Isle lied in wait along with a small group of fighters as she awaited commands from Nabooru or Ganondorf. The fighters had all armed themselves and were ready to attack. Renova was across from them with a mix of Gerudos who had some experience fighting thought the majority were scholars. A younger Gerudo child crept in from a doorway and chatted privately with Renova before sneaking back in and Renova coming towards Isle. "Ganondorf and Nabooru are hiding somewhere up the hill where they have a sorcerer and the keys to the cages. We can pick a few of the locks here but it will be hard without alerting the guards" Renova said pointing towards a guard who just happened to wander out of step and near them. Isle nodded and Renova crept back towards her awaiting troop.

Nabooru stood by Ganondorf as they looked towards Eldon and his sorcerer. Ganondorf was still bleeding pretty badly but he had other plans for now. By the two was a pile of loot robbed from the guards who had been knocked out and dragged into a cell in the dungeon. "What now?" Ganondorf asked as Nabooru looked out over the guards. "The cells locks are in straight lines, I can take them all out from the top of the hill. Isle and Renova are at the bottom, they can take care of those cells". Ganondorf nodded at this, "Taking out the guards will be easy, I'm more worried about the sorcerer as magic can easily ruin a battlefield, and the fortress." This was something Nabooru could understand, no Gerudo would want their home destroyed. Ganondorf rested a badly gashed arm on Nabooru's shoulder and looked out once again at the cages, "If I have to use any more black magic, close your eyes" he said. Nabooru nodded, she didn't have to report Ganondorf using any darker methods if she didn't see any. Ganondorf moved his arm from her shoulder and started taking a path to the road of cages.

Eldon sneered as a guard started to lean against a cage in sleep, he considered warning the guard but he figured waking up to find all of his possessions missing was a bigger punishment. As Eldon continued to look about him Ax straightened and prepared a staff he had brought with him. Ax was a powerful white magician and he knew when something he didn't like was approaching him. Two guards shuffled and looked about as though they had seen something. The caged Gerudos became especially quiet. Eldon turned in a circle confused, he hated when something he didn't know about before hand happened.

Ax slowly chanted a white magic spell; a small circle began to glow about him. A light flashed somewhere in a corner but Ax was too involved to notice it. Ax chanted a little faster, the atmosphere intensified. Nabooru waited behind a row of guards waiting for her cue. Ganondorf held a black ball of energy in his hand; Ax had almost reached the final stages of his protection spell. As Ax chanted the final word, Ganondorf let loose his ball of energy before he ran to the opposite side of the wizard he was attacking.

In a single swipe Nabooru slashed the backs of the guards in front of her both wounding them and stunning them giving her the opportunity to burst through them and sprint towards the line of Gerudo cages. Ganondorf came at Ax from the opposite side and pulled out his sword. Ax saw the approaching Gerudo king and lifted his staff in some sort of flimsy attempt blessing it softly with white magic. Ganondorf smirked to himself as he wondered why the wizard in front of him thought he; the king of evil would be weak enough to charm his weapons with dark magic. He lifted his sword and brought it down hard on the staff snapping it in two. A series of guards started for Nabooru then reverted towards Ganondorf who was attacking their leader.

Nabooru slid to the cage line and approached the first lock before spinning expectantly as a guard's sword came down upon her. She had anticipated the attack and used it as the perfect opportunity to swipe the sword from the guard's hands leaving him very confused as she bashed it on his head knocking him out. Holding the sword at a practiced angle, Nabooru arched the sword in her hand and sent it spinning down the row of locks expertly cutting through them and leaving the Gerudos to bust out of the cages.

Ganondorf had now knocked Ax to the floor and was easily blocking off his spells without magic, an attribute to him that left him far superior to the older wizard trying his hardest to harm him. Eldon now very frightened was clueless and he watched his sorcerer fall to the floor while tons of Gerudos appeared from no ware and attacked his guards while his guard reinforcements from the inside and lower half of the fortress never came, obviously held off. Still in shock, Eldon felt nearly petrified as a blade was suddenly pushed to his throat and Isle grabbed him around the neck.

Seeing their leader in this position, the guards all turned, some unconscious and others very close to it. Ganondorf pointed his sword at Ax and looked to see what would happen next. Stepping up to face Eldon Nabooru smiled and looked about her. "I think we won," she said with an evil grin, "now GET OUT!" The guards were piled on to large carts, in the cages the Gerudos had been originally locked in and Eldon was bound and gagged and put in the driver's seat of one of these.

It took a little under an hour to get the entire army piled up and sent out across the bridge from the fortress. Standing at Ganondorf's side Nabooru nodded off to a slight daydream. She wanted to enjoy the satisfying feeling of victory for just a minute while the surrounding Gerudos worked quickly to try and restore order.

Ganondorf looked to Nabooru as the confusion finally subsided. "My lady?" he asked, drawing her out of her happy daze. "Yes?" she replied. "What now?" he asked. Nabooru went to touch his arm and took a step back as he winced a bit more dramatically than expected. "I suppose we go to your chambers before anyone else notices..." Nabooru mumbled, "You're hurt." He wanted to say something, anything. She had worked so well with him just now, he wished he knew how to express how much he cared.

When the crowds finally settled Ganondorf approached the entrance with Nabooru at his side. She caught his eyes for a moment, nearly knocking him off his feet. "What?" he answered to her unasked question. The thing that really loomed on his mind was even bigger...


	7. Chapter 7 - Nabooru Wants Him Back

Inside Ganondorf slowly took off his damaged armor and waited for Nabooru to return with a few bandages.

"Oh I'm sorry," she said from the entrance. "What?" he replied as he sat down and motioned for her to come closer. "You're not wearing any clothes, my... king." she replied slowly, "It just startled me." "Were you planning on dressing wounds through my armor?" he asked her. She laughed as she stepped forward to clean his arm. "No, I just didn't expect you to be naked."

He watched her as she slowly pulled a bandage over a gash in his arm. She was closer than expected to his face. There were so many things he had missed while he was away. The way she bit her lips while she was focused on something, her slender neck, those lips, and those eyes... He looked up at her intently. "Oh," she said as she pulled back.

"Sorry," he said as he watched her fumble with where to look, "I just..." "Yes?" she asked, she was trying so hard not to violate his own personal space as she returned to dress another wound. "I certainly missed seeing your face while I was in the Spirit Realm," he replied.

She giggled as she moved to dress a wound on his side. "Not to sound creepy but I'd say the same thing about your abs..." she replied. "That's flattering but so unromantic," he said in shock. "What do you mean?" she asked as she playfully traced a finger from his belly button upwards. "I was just thinking how beautiful your eyes were, and you come over here and... violate me?" he said.

"Uh!" she said in mock disgust. He took the opportunity to grab her wrist before she could turn away. "Could you do that again?" he asked her as he pulled her forward to lightly trace the outline of her jaw with his finger. "What?" she asked him, "I'm holding a bunch of bandages I need to put on you here."

They both stopped talking for a moment as she leaned in closer. She felt him lightly kiss her jaw. With his free hand he slowly traced the side of her figure and wrapped an arm around her back. She watched him as he looked at her, starting from the top of her head all the way down. "I really missed you," he said. She leaned in to kiss him. He started to pull her on to his lap before remarking, "ow!"

She laughed as she kissed his shoulder and returned to fixing his arm. "This maybe isn't the right time for that," she said, "You're a little bit broken." "Unfortunately" he grumbled.

She helped him dress a few of his wounds before she started cleaning a few gashes of her own. Neither of the two had come out too badly, and it was obvious that experience had something to do with it.

He watched as she lifted her shirt to try and clean her back in the mirror. "Do you need help with that?" he asked as he slowly approached her from behind. "If you could," she replied.

She felt him dab at the cut before reaching down to kiss her there, right beneath the shoulder blade. He lifted her arm to kiss the bruise along her elbow. She giggled as she felt him bend down and go for the one along her side. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself," he said as he wrapped both arms around her stomach and lightly kissed her neck. She felt him wince as she went to run her arm along his.

"Yep, still broken," Nabooru said. "At the most inconvenient of times," he replied as he kissed her again and released her.

* * *

Later that day while Ganondorf lounged on a couch reading some old document, the only thing on Nabooru's mind was how he had recently been behaving. She had thought about it for quite some time, and had finally reached a sort of standpoint. Her plan was to soon bring Ganondorf back to Zelda and the rest of the sages and see if she could get him readmitted into Hyrule. If they refused, she planned on keeping him at the fortress where they couldn't lock him away as easily. Though her plan was sketchy and could easily have the opposite outcome, Ganondorf having to leave, she preferred trying rather than sitting and waiting.

Nabooru woke up early the next morning and walked into Ganondorf's chambers to find him fully awake and clothed. She greeted him and then waited a few minutes to make sure he was ready to leave. Then she started down the scattered halls that had lines of guard's dropped possessions on the floor. Ganondorf took his time, he stopped at random moments to talk with a passing guard and he didn't seem to notice Nabooru's constant irritated glances or her deliberate way of acting like she was in a hurry. When the two were finally out of the fortress Nabooru headed straight for the desert and was shocked to see Ganondorf turn the opposite way.

When she finally had him started across, she was both deeply annoyed and angry.

As they crossed the haunted wasteland, Nabooru was silent and didn't respond to any of Ganondorf's attempts at starting a conversation. "So why so quiet?" he asked after about fifteen attempts at getting her to talk. Nabooru shrugged, her annoyance with him had faded but she still didn't know how to phrase her request without opening it too much with Ganondorf around. She preferred having him back, but right now she longed for a little bit of freedom. And for him to put his boots on faster.

"Are you okay?" Ganondorf asked in response to her shrug, she replied with a nod of the head.

"Are you sure?" no verbal reply. After a few more minutes of this Ganondorf gave up on his second in command and returned to crossing the desert in silence.

At the temple Nabooru trotted off at a fast pace down a series of hallways with Ganondorf barely able to catch up. She finally arrived at a small room lit by two torches with a big bowl in the center that was filled with a black liquid. Nabooru looked into this black mixture and called out "Temple of Time". A vivid image of the temple flashed and then Rauru's face fuzzed onto the surface. He nodded his head, "yes Nabooru" he asked tightening a robe around his stomach.

Nabooru smiled, "I seem to have this problem here. You see I believe my king, Ganondorf, has been behaving really well, and now I would like to let him retake his position with re-admittance to Hyrule. "

Rauru nodded his head, "we will discuss this matter at the next sages meeting, if you finally show up"

Nabooru nodded at the watery surface, "Please consider my request unbiased, I would be overly grateful if I could finally return to my errands in peace"

Rauru again nodded, Nabooru couldn't help noticing how his fat rippled as he fuzzed out of the surface and left her there alone.

Ganondorf slowly walked up behind Nabooru and slipped his arms around her waist. She turned her head from the blank pool in front of her and looked to Ganondorf looming over her shoulder. "You seem like you're feeling better," she said as he set his chin on her shoulder. "I am," he replied, "Are you?"

"I'd love to have you released from this stupid contract with me," she replied, "For us to do this on our... own terms."

"When" Ganondorf asked softly pulling her closer. "We will find out at the next sages meeting" Nabooru said softly as Ganondorf pulled away from her. He started back into the hall before turning to face her expectantly.

Nabooru turned and walked past him into the hall towards the entrance with Ganondorf following. "What is it?" he asked again as she ignored him. "I've made up my mind that I want to get you back to your former position," she replied, "Not that I mind the companionship..." "Do you tire of me?" he asked her. "I tire of being told what to do," she replied. She didn't want to include, _and I could use a little bit of alone time..._

Waiting at the entrance, Ganondorf stood as Nabooru slipped back into the temple one last time. He knew why they had made this sudden visit back, he didn't know if he was to feel like she was trying to get rid of him or if she was trying to help him. He didn't want to poke her about the issue either.

Another lingering thought was how Ganondorf was to handle his people if finally restored to power. He had a long problem with people betraying him while he pursued dark magic, and he had often resorted to creative measures to both punish accordingly and not rile up too many additional revolters. This was a permanent problem for him, even the highest ranked Gerudo officers could be thrown into the dark dungeons under the fortress if he found out of their disloyalty.

Right now he only thought of the matter because Nabooru was taking a while in the back rooms of the temple and he was still forced to wait for her. When she finally did come out she looked much happier and had replaced her earlier look of annoyance with a smile. "What?" she asked as they crossed the thresh hold. "You're smiling," he replied. "Am I not allowed to?" she asked him. "Seeing you happy cheers me up for some reason," he said. "That's very sweet," she replied. He cringed, "I'm embarrassing myself," he said as they stepped into the sand. "Well then please... continue," she giggled.

* * *

As Nabooru reached the entrance to the fortress again she felt like a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She normally wouldn't have returned to the fortress immediately after the temple but there was a mess to clean up and she was very good about not procrastinating responsibilities. Walking through to the dirt road a Gerudo holding a large pile of assorted golden items and expensive looking clothing tried to wave but gave up quickly having to reach down and regain her cargo to keep it from dropping from her arms.

Farther up the street there were a few younger children jogging about and indulging some game that consisted of one of them picking up a fallen item from the road then the rest trying to steal it from them. As Ganondorf and Nabooru passed neither took much heed to the children. Cere sat watching from a few feet away engrossed immensely in their activities. Unlike Cere who was in charge of the schooling and military training for the younger children, neither seemed to care for the younger children.

In the fortress a guard sat instructing some of her peers as various Gerudos happily walked from place to place picking up various fallen goods and carrying them away. In a small stone room a young Gerudo soldier sat trying to stifle some tears as a series of large gashes on her leg were being treated. Nabooru stopped to watch this and was shocked to find Ganondorf grab her by her arm and pull her along farther down the hall. When they reached one of the many larger rooms in the fortress reserved for stolen treasures, they found it crammed with goods, and Semalie talking to a group of Gerudos about trading prices. Farther ahead, Renova was looking over a large series of weapons in one of the storage rooms. Nabooru no longer led as Ganondorf now had a pretty tight grip on her arm and was obviously bringing her with him wherever he planned on going.

When they reached the outside of the meeting chambers, Ganondorf started to bring Nabooru along with him inside but was met with a sharp tug. Turning in shock, Ganondorf was met with two sharp bright eyes and a harsh whisper, "what's wrong, think I'm going to disappear if you don't constantly hold on to me."

Weakly smiling Ganondorf dropped her arm and Nabooru's harsh stance loosened to follow him inside. "I'm sorry. We just can't be that touchy around the others... yet" she said. "I know," he answered, "I'm sorry for treating you like my lap dog. You are cute though."

Nabooru laughed, she wanted to be mad at him, but he was making it difficult.

* * *

Isle had been talking with a counsel seated at a stone table before her and showed little surprise when Ganondorf entered. She stopped what she had been saying and bowed her head in acknowledgement as he seated himself at an empty chair at the end of the table, a chair that was always left empty for him in case he came. It had been a long time.

Nabooru entered not causing as much of a stir as Ganondorf had and seated herself beside Ganondorf. Seeing this Isle stopped talking again for a second, but restarted when Nabooru gave her a quick wave of acknowledgement. The meeting continued with much livened up compared to before as both Ganondorf and Nabooru had their own ideas on what was to be done about the fallen items everywhere and the many broken things scattered by the guards. When it finally ended, the Gerudos filed out quickly with new orders to help quickly restore the fortress, as on average it took the Gerudos three days to make everything look entirely untouched and today they hoped they could finish and accomplish it in two.

As soon as the lower ranked Gerudos filed out Isle sat at the table with Ganondorf and Nabooru and folded her hands politely. Her demeanor changed completely alone with her only two superiors and now she awaited feedback. "So are we going to change any status with the Hylain's for their ever so bold move?" Isle asked as Ganondorf leaned back into the chair and Nabooru leaned on her hand both losing the previous air they had held with the other Gerudos.

"Probably to enemy" Ganondorf started as Nabooru widened her eyes and started to mutter a "but…." "Although since Nabooru would appreciate just giving them a warning and telling them the deal with no robbery of merchant carts is off we will probably have to go with that".

Isle softly chuckled to herself as Nabooru sank back down and Ganondorf pulled his arms behind his head. Isle made a mental note to herself before starting to ask another question, "what would you like me to do about the…" she started but was quickly cut off by Nabooru.

"The goods will be sent out to the bored forests, since otherwise Ganondorf will want to cut off cut off trade with the Hylain's all together". Isle looked back from Ganondorf to Nabooru before starting another question, "and the…." Ganondorf interrupted her, "The weapons may be distributed evenly to the schools and emergency military equipment".

Isle nodded her head, "Okay then, Thank you, I can get started on this immediately." Nabooru lifted her hand and waved while Ganondorf smiled at her. "You're trying to appease me," Nabooru said. "That I am," Ganondorf answered.

Standing and stretching Ganondorf walked towards the exit. Nabooru quickly followed suite and walked beside him to his chambers, his overall favorite meeting place. Nabooru entered and sat on a plush red couch while Ganondorf lay on a satin blue one across from her. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes before Ganondorf stood and walked to sit by Nabooru.

She slightly leaned on his large figure now next to her and neither spoke as he put an arm around her and gently rubbed her back.

"If all goes well, you can go back to ruling as usual very soon" Nabooru said. Ganondorf nodded and leaned back sinking into the couch. Nabooru reclined and softly let part of her body rest against his chest. Neither spoke as Ganondorf pulled her closer to him and let his mind drift as he stared at nothing in particular.

Nabooru reached down and slowly let her fingers run against his hand lying around her waist.

He softly smiled and turned to her, "yes" he asked. "Before you were locked in the spirit realm, your obsession with the triforce and darker arts seemed to make you, well a little more unfair and I was just wondering if when you are released out on your own again if you are going to revert back to your old ways or if…"

Ganondorf placed a finger on her lips, "Are you suggesting that as soon as I can become king again I will be a bad ruler?" His facial features began to reflect a sterner look. "Well no" Nabooru started as Ganondorf clenched his fists slightly, but enough to startle her.

She considered telling him the entire time he was never a bad leader, but instead chose to continue on the topic. "I was just suggesting that when you are back in power, maybe you won't be as", cruel, CRUEL, she wanted to scream, "unwise…. in your…decisions around the fortress". Her last phrase was barely drawn out as Ganondorf continued to retain the harsher appearance. He was quiet for a few more seconds then he sighed and pushed as stray lock of hair from Nabooru's face. "What a picky little girl" he said as Nabooru perked up. "Picky, what am I being PICKY about?" she asked in a playful manner. "Oh so picky and doesn't even know it" Ganondorf sang softly as Nabooru folded her arms with a devious smile aboard her face.

He stopped his teasing as he settled back into the couch, he didn't show any concern for Nabooru's earlier comments, but then he trusted her too much to expect her to try anything. She on the other hand was surprised, one day the secret would come out that she, Nabooru, had been the one that led the growing rebellion against him while he was in power. He didn't know either that this was one of the real reasons his two surrogate mothers took her captive.

"So, when is this next Sage meeting?" Ganondorf asked breaking another momentary eerie silence.

"Soon" she replied now thinking of other problems with the meeting.

"So as I hear the majority of the sages despise me," he asked looking thoughtfully towards the ceiling.

"They only know you as the man who caused a very large mess in Hyrule, they don't know YOU, the Gerudo king."

Ganondorf nodded at this statement as he gently began playing with her ponytail, "And why is the fat slob so insistent on me being sent straight to the Spirit Realm and beyond" he asked turning his attention to her face.

Nabooru had considered defending Rauru's honor, but in Ganondorf's presence she felt no need to hide her feelings about him. "That slob makes my life miserable as a Gerudo, he is definitely racist and he used my time at the meetings to request I prevent some of our tribe from going places and…."

Ganondorf hushed her with a smirk and pulled her closer to him, "don't worry," he said softly, "I hate him just as much as you do".

Nabooru smiled and let her head rest fully against his chest, if there was anything she shared with Ganondorf; it was similar likes and dislikes. Which meant they both got along the majority of the time two opposing points were brought up.

Ganondorf looked about him for a moment before standing and walking towards a back room. Nabooru stood as well, but walked opposite from him towards a mahogany table on which there were a few scattered documents. She shuffled through a few of them then shook her head with a light giggle; apparently Ganondorf had forgotten his other responsibilities.

She sat and looked at the first, it was a light tan color and came from the Hylain Palace, after reading over it she realized it to be some sort of apology though it refused to state it clearly and it came with an urgent demand for the soldier's possessions to be returned. She crinkled it and walked to a fireplace against a far wall that she tossed it in. Returning to her seat, she found the next paper, a letter from the zoras requesting that the Gerudos not throw as much litter into the river below the bridge. She frowned at this; it meant the soldiers loved making a mess.

The next passage was from a merchant who listed prices for items he was willing to buy if they ever stole it. Setting this aside, she thumbed through the other letters and found nothing that unusual until she managed to pull up a note, from a band of thieves asked Ganondorf in the letter a dreaded question.

Nabooru reread this note about fifteen times and almost wanted to gag, it was a notice about him returning to the assassins, something Nabooru never wanted. At that moment she felt a hand on her shoulder, "anything interesting" asked the low male's voice behind her. She quickly crinkled the letter and tossed it to the fireplace, "Nothing not either caused by the soldiers or too boring to mention" she replied looking up at him.

Ganondorf smiled and removed his hand stepping around her to start looking at the remaining documents himself. Nabooru stood and walked back to the couch.

Ganondorf finished looking at the letters before eyeing the crinkled papers in the fireplace. "What did those say?" he asked breaking Nabooru from her daydream.

"Do you really want to know?" she asked sleepily. He shook his head softly before starting towards a small stone bookcase in the corner.

"Shouldn't you be doing something?" he asked as she once again let her mind start to wander. "Like what?" she answered as she let her head roll back.

"Make something up," he said as he slowly let his hand sift along the titles of the rows of books. Nabooru slowly got up from her chair and sauntered towards Ganondorf's place at the bookcase.

"Should I get you something then?" she asked as he turned from his place to look at her. "Go check on the kitchen, I hate to see you doing nothing," he said as he turned back to his books. He really wasn't one for words. "Not that I don't enjoy your company," he blurted, "Trust me, I really enjoy your company. I just hate to see you... bored."

"Yes you're worried I'm bored," Nabooru replied.

"Do you remember the days when you didn't constantly talk back to me and make fun of me?" he said. "Do you remember the days when you did the same?" she said. He stopped for a moment to kiss her again. "They really weren't as fun were they?" he replied.

"Do you trust me enough to leave me here to read for a bit?" he asked. "I would love nothing more than to be able to leave you alone for a bit," she replied. He looked at her, "Are you telling me you hate me?" "Ganondorf!" she said, although she could tell he was joking, "No I really want things to go back to the way they were..."

"I'm glad we agree," he said. "Nabooru before you go," he started, "I promise you I plan to make us a better team this round. I want to work with you." "Thank you," she said. "In some ways you're the best part of my stupid existence right now," he mumbled, "For what it's worth." "That's quite deep of you my king," she said. "I mean it," he smiled, "Now go!"

Nabooru nodded and left his chambers, nodding at passing Gerudos as she walked down the hall and entered the blank Gerudo kitchen.

Because a cook in the Gerudo clan was something hard to find, there was rarely a day where there was no help needed. A few smaller children bustled about as they eagerly mixed pots and carried bowls full of ingredients very carefully from one place to another holding them as if they were full of precious gems. Nabooru smiled at two children both holding a large black cauldron and taking it towards a small fireplace to be heated.

Seeing Nabooru a cook eagerly grabbed her and started asking advice about a course for the night's feast. After talking with the cook for a few minutes, she soon found herself helping, as she was known for having some talent in the kitchen.

Nabooru was busy preparing a salad, whose ingredients had been obtained through two thieves hard work at a traveling merchant cart. As she was tossing in the final ingredient a sweaty young girl walked in and demanded help in the archery range.

Nabooru complied and soon found she instructing a group of six year olds how to shoot a bow and arrow, which was hard work at such an early age. When the sun had set and the younger children had all left Nabooru took one last glance to make sure she was alone before taking out her tan horse and grabbing a loaner bow. She added some arrows to a small quiver and slipped onto her horse's back.

Aiming her bow at the farthest target possible, Nabooru slowly pulled back the string and let the arrow fly hitting the target straight on the bull's eye. She then kicked her horse and starting at a run, she hit a series of bottles lined up along a target line. After they had all been smashed to the ground, she turned to face backwards lifting her bow above her shoulder and started shooting the targets from behind her. At the end of the range she looked back to see every single target not hit perfectly. She replaced the equipment and went back for dinner.

The next few weary weeks Ganondorf spent eagerly involving himself in the Gerudo's activities and waiting the day where Nabooru could return him to his original power. The days went by rather fast for Nabooru; she was beginning to feel the effects of being second in command and now had another to confer with decision making and an extra step of confirmation to get anything done.

* * *

When the day arrived for the sages to vote whether Ganondorf could stay or not, both Nabooru and Ganondorf were prepared dark stallions. The air was ripe with enthusiasm, from the Gerudos behind them and all who were waiting to see their king permanently return.

"They love you again," Nabooru said as she followed him to the stables. "It seems as though my time with the dark arts has been mostly forgotten," Ganondorf replied. He stopped her as he recognized they were alone for a moment. "No matter what happens today..." he started.

"Yes?" she asked to his pause.

He met her eyes, "I..." he said. He stopped himself as he kissed her. "That," he finished. "I didn't quite get that, what was that?" Nabooru replied. He kissed her again, this time causing her to grin. "You sure do seem to like to do that a lot," she said. "I can't do it when the others are around," he said.

She gasped as she felt him push her against the side of the stable wall. He kissed her again, this time her neck. She threw her arms around his neck as she let her hands run through his hair. "I need you to come back with me today, to our home," she whispered in his ear. He stopped as he placed his forehead against hers, "I wish I had more time with you. I'm so stupid to not have spent more time with you."

"We spent a lot of time together," she replied. "Not like this..." he mumbled. Nabooru tried to brush away a tear, "You're coming back with me." "Good," he said. He released her as they heard another Gerudo approaching from around the corner.

"Your cloaks my king and general," she said as she handed them two dark capes. Nabooru thanked her appropriately as they mounted their steeds.

Though the two Gerudos rode out regally from the valley, both Ganondorf and Nabooru immediately slouched and added various capes and such for disguise as they neared the Hylain castle town gates.

After crossing the bridge, Nabooru navigated the crowd with relative ease, but Ganondorf was having other troubles. He was significantly taller and not able to see Nabooru's retreating form through the thick crowd.

An accidental encounter with a merchant knocked his hood off, causing the surrounding individuals in the town square to gasp. "Ganondorf," a voice said in a troubled whisper. The calls got louder, "Ganondorf!" It was as if the entire town had frozen.

Nabooru pulled off her hood and sighed as she returned to take his arm. "Stop," she growled, "He's back. And he deserves to be here just as much as any of the lot of you." "I don't know about that..." Ganondorf grinned as he waved at them. There was a general sense of horror and wonder that followed them as he headed to the steps of the Temple of Time.

"Any last words?" Nabooru asked him. "You tell me," he replied. "I want you back," she said. He smiled nervously as she led him inside to meet Rauru.


	8. Chapter 8 - Nabooru's Betrayal

This sage meeting was not conducted like anything Nabooru had ever experienced before. It seemed as if everyone from the townspeople to the castle guard was watching him. They all had sharp eyes, just daring him to try something.

Ganondorf waited patiently and appeared to show little care towards any of his observers. Which was good, as the sages were extra edgy. The frequent looks towards Ganondorf all suggested the same message, "What was he going to do once he returned to power?"

The only person who managed to maintain her usual regal composure was Zelda, who asked relatively fair questions of Ganondorf. To an outside observer one might have almost thought he had never committed anything bad.

Ganondorf remained by Nabooru's side. He answered Zelda's questions in good humor, and every once in a while to emphasize a point, set a hand on Nabooru's shoulder. Nabooru responded accordingly, squeezing his hand in a show of good faith to the other sages.

The ever-observant Impa was the only sage not darting her eyes about or asking shaky questions of Ganondorf. She was fixated on Nabooru. The two had managed a sort of language between each other this way and today was no exception.

At the end of the frenzied meeting Zelda and the other sages left to a back room.

Ganondorf sat behind Nabooru and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. It seemed as though he was attempting to comfort her, but he was definitely more tense than her. "Why are you not with them?" he asked her finally.

"It's no secret to them how I feel about you," she replied. "What do you mean?" he said. "Even when you were at your most powerful I advocated that you could be changed... Certainly not locked away," she said, "And they're debating my ability to control you now."

"Do you feel like you... control... me?" he replied. "What do you think?" she said. "I think I'm going to leave here with you today regardless of what they say," he answered.

She grabbed his arm, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that..."

When the sages finally came out they all simultaneously nodded and Rauru made an unnecessary fuss about announcing the decision. "We are gathered here today to decide the final staying place of the aforementioned former traitor to Hyrule, who's dastardly plot to take over rocked an entire country, who's intentions to fight us resorted in the pain and suffering of many..."

Nabooru rolled her eyes as she tried to tune him out. Before she could ask, " _Could you get on with it?_ " Rauru stopped, "But we've decided he can stay. Barring any future... incidents." Some of the sages appeared to grumble. When Nabooru looked up to Ganondorf she was surprised to see he was smiling, "I knew this would be the decision this whole time," he said. Before she could respond she was trust a paper contract.

Zelda closed the proceedings by offering Ganondorf and Nabooru a temporary treaty between the two kingdoms for a short time. When all was said and done, they both snuck out of the marketplace to the open Hyrule field.

Standing in the open air, Ganondorf wrapped Nabooru in a surprisingly large hug. "You seem ecstatic, my king." "My king..." he said, "It really rolls off the tongue doesn't it." "A bit better than... Ganondorf," she mocked. "I like my name," he said, "In fact I'm pretty sure you like my name too." "I like your name?" she asked. "You seem pretty happy right now for someone that doesn't like my name," he said. Nabooru grinned, she reached up to kiss his cheek.

It had occurred to her this might be one of their last private moments before they returned to the chaos that was ruling a country. He placed a hand on the side of her face. "I know I don't say it very much," he said, "But I appreciate everything you've done for me." "Thank you," she replied. Before she could say anything else, he kissed her. They stood there for a moment like that. When he finally released her she placed her arms around his neck, "Why didn't that feel long enough?" she asked. "We have the rest of our lives to make up for it," he said, "I'm back." She chuckled, although she didn't say what she was thinking. _For now._

Finally, they mounted their stallions and rode off back to the valley.

Ganondorf led, once again he was king.

* * *

Within a day the entire Gerudo ruling system was switched back to Ganondorf's super organized sequence. With Nabooru it had been lax. Sure there were scheduled meetings and such, but everyone did their own thing and came when necessary to solve a problem.

Ganondorf was much stricter, Gerudos had to check in with him at appropriate times and there were organized times during the day where Gerudos could see him. Being as Ganondorf ruled much stricter and scheduled, some of the Gerudos had a much harder time adjusting to his plans.

Being used to doing as she pleased, Nabooru was one of these. She hated to admit she was having a particularly hard time switching her busy schedule to Ganondorf's.

She had been particularly bad at making his throne hours.

There was one busy day where it finally got to him too. As Ganondorf sat on his throne awaiting the lower ranks period of time to visit him, he stroked his chin and looked for Nabooru. She was supposed to be at his side during this time to help him with his judgment, more because he could be unfair than because of any balance of power. But as he sat here and acknowledged the first few Gerudos, Nabooru was nowhere to be seen.

He listened to the first few issues and sent the Gerudos in question off to fix them. After three of these, he leaned over and told a guard next to him to bring Nabooru to him.

It took her ten minutes to get to him. She arrived, face flushed and incredibly untimely even as she approached him. She had stopped to talk to a guard at the entrance in route. Ganondorf waved off the Gerudo talking to him and motioned to Nabooru. She slowly made her way up to his throne and didn't even bother to try and look dignified.

Standing in front of him, she placed a hand on his knee and looked into his eyes, "Am I too late?" she asked. He smiled to himself and dragged her arm to his side, "Yes, so make up for it."

She nodded and leaned against his chair as the Gerudo in front of them began to pour her heart out over a problem. Ganondorf found himself watching Nabooru, she was more attentive than him certainly. Was she more fair? Things ran while he was gone. But they weren't as polished as he was used to. "We can try to assist with the new water source," Nabooru said, snapping Ganondorf out of his stupor.

When the Gerudo public was finally finished with their comments he pulled Nabooru aside. "How do you do this?" he asked her. "What?" she replied. "This organized chaos of a schedule that you do," he answered, "And yet you somehow seem to be a more attentive listener than I." "Practice, my king," she replied, "I've been doing this while you were away, they're used to me."

He seemed taken aback at this.

"I don't mean to threaten your position," she said quickly, "I'm sorry I was late." "I was mostly mad because I like having you with me," he replied. "Sh," Nabooru threatened, "Do you want everyone to know we're more than..." He kissed her in retaliation. She giggled as she cautiously looked around to see who had noticed. Fortunately, they were alone.

Ganondorf exited through a side door and left to a conference room where he was expecting to meet with a series of Gerudos addressing issues about happenings outside the fortress. Nabooru who had her own schedule, was not attending this with him.

Ganondorf discovered this at a later meeting she was supposed to join, where he again sent for her. He was not surprised to see her arrive late, and out of breath. He didn't consider it his business to ask where she disappeared to, but he could tell it was wearing on her. He too, was finding issue with the new changes.

Ganondorf had begun to notice all the subtle things that has been altered during Nabooru's reign. Nabooru held feasts, but not nearly as often as he did. The Gerudo people seemed more accustomed to her informal gatherings than his large prepared feasts. This did not bother him as much as the top seven scholars in the council, as the majority of the scholars in the Gerudo race didn't like organized daily meetings.

Ganondorf would have yelled at Nabooru about this, but the army was in top shape and he couldn't help but continue to notice their promptness and devoted spirit spent towards any project they were given. Plus the fact they could schedule and organize a meeting for the entire army within minutes. This impressed him greatly, and because he had always been more military acclimated anyways he let the scholarly issues slip.

For the next few weeks, Ganondorf spent his time organizing his activities. He would come back to his chambers every night and either spend his time alone or walk out to engage in another nightly social gathering. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but he certainly missed company in his chambers.

Nabooru at first spent her time near the fortress, but when it became nearly impossible for her to continue with her normal schedule she had Ariel carry out her orders and such to and from her.

One night while returning from a larger feast yet alone again Ganondorf found himself perplexed with Nabooru's disappearances. He was used to having her at his disposal. With her duty split between him and being a sage he found it harder to go about with his activities.

He found a random guard to send for her and then proceeded to sit back in a chair to wait.

She was quicker than he would have expected. "I'm surprised to see that's not about black magic," she commented as she indicated towards a document he had been reading. He set the scroll down and motioned to the couch. "I'm done with that for now," he replied as she observed her lazily lounge in front of him.

"Why do you disappear for so long" he asked, no tone of suspicion was shown.

She shrugged, "A lot of stuff at the Spirit Temple".

He nodded, "That is ALL you're doing correct?"

"Yes."

Sitting back farther into his chair Ganondorf tilted his head, "And before I was gone, when you weren't a sage were you doing 'similar things'?"

Nodding but looking towards the ground Nabooru shifted, she was wary about releasing the information she knew he was probably looking for. He continued to look at her, "and also before I….", he started to say but was quickly interrupted. "Lets not talk about that?" Nabooru blurted out. Smirking, Ganondorf crossed his arms, "Dismissed" he said as she got up to leave him.

He grabbed her arm on the way out. "Why do you make me miss you?" he asked.

"It's hard to be a sage and your second-in-command," she replied.

"That's now what I meant," he said.

"Well what would you have me do?" she replied.

He tried to kiss her. She pulled away at first, but quickly changed her mind and pecked his lips at his expression of horror. "Are you like this because I asked about before?" he said. She tried to deflect the topic, "I'm just pleased you no longer look to dark magic for solace."

"Who would you have me look to?" he said. She kissed him, this time moving in to sit on his lap. "Will you stay here tonight?" he asked her as he moved his hand slowly down her back. She could feel him start to play with her top. She responded by setting her hand on his exposed chest. "And what would you have me do, if I were to stay with you tonight?" she replied.

She felt him place his other hand on her front. He was playing with the tie on her pants. He grinned as he kissed her again. "Tell me why you're so uncomfortable speaking to me about my time ruling before," he replied. Nabooru instantly reacted, jerking back from him to rise to a stand. "And here I thought..." she started as he tried to grab her.

"Oh don't leave me now," he said as she walked to the door. "You said I was dismissed," she replied. "I want you here with me, Nabooru," he said. "I have a lot to finish at the Spirit temple tonight," she replied. "I respect that," he replied as he turned to pick the scroll back up. Nabooru ran back to him to kiss his forehead one last time. She was too quick for him to grab and stop her as she disappeared back down the staircase.

Slight suspicions were beginning to rise about her previous behavior. Ganondorf closed his eyes and reflected, the long periods of time she had spent missing, the rumors of revolt, and the acts against his growing darker policies.

He had hated that time where many Gerudos had been thrown in the dark dungeon under the fortress and so many had stood up against him. The leader had never been caught, the leader who was obviously intelligent and had some connections higher up.

Ganondorf never wanted to think of Nabooru as the leader of such a movement. He held her in high esteem and trusted her so fully. For her to be found guilty of such a large crime... well that would have hurt him personally almost as much as if it might have degraded his own power over his people. He didn't want to even think of the punishment that would entail.

Meanwhile down the hall from him, Nabooru found herself barely able to catch her breath. She didn't know what he had figured out. She wouldn't revolt against him again for sure.

Especially in light of the memory of the final days of the revolt before he left. He had kissed her and bestowed all his duties. Even then it almost had made her change her mind. She had gone against him, upturned his superiority, and had him blocked from full power during his darker magic days.

It hadn't even been a direct attempt to undermine him, but simply by talking to other Gerudos it had nearly lost him all of his supporters and made it very hard for him to perform in the fortress. It was lucky the campaign against him had been directed at his obsession with the triforce and practice of dark arts, because otherwise it would have been very hard to help him back into power.

She continued to walk down the hall worried. She would do anything for him, but if Ganondorf kept looking back and found out, she knew she would be in deeper trouble then anyone she had ever seen before.

* * *

The following morning Ganondorf awoke and spent a few minutes tidying up his chambers.

He walked out into the hallway and was greeted by a guard who bowed her head and then whispered something into his ear. "Trespasser caught, his trial is in about an hour". Ganondorf frowned at the news, trespassers were never welcome during his reign and ever since Link had so easily slipped through, the security had tightened.

An intruder now suffered much harsher punishments, and after only just being allowed back he didn't want to have to deal with the punishing. But then, he did have those moments where he almost wanted to go back to his old ways of torture. Not now though, he had more important matters to worry about.

Ariel slightly shook the sleeping Nabooru, "wake up Nabs, can't miss the trial". Nabooru sleepily opened one eye, "trial? Today? Why when I was up so late last night". She grumbled and sat up from her small mattress and while tossing the silk sheet off to the side. Ariel turned to leave the chamber when Nabooru stopped her, "how long do I have?" she asked. "About forty minutes" Ariel replied before leaving.

Nabooru fully stood and walked to a dresser to put on her pink pants. On occasions like these she would wear her traditional white outfit with a special jewel piece on her forehead. Today she didn't want to attract the trespasser's attention and she almost didn't even put her normal jewel on.

When she finally had gotten ready and exited the small chamber a guard immediately saw her and pointed to the direction in which Nabooru knew the trial to be held. She made her way down out of the building she had been staying in, it wasn't one of her main chambers but she hadn't wanted to stay in the fortress or at the Spirit Temple that night. Walking out onto the dusty road she found no other Gerudo in sight, apparently they were all off wondering about how Ganondorf was going to punish the trespasser.

Nabooru was curious as well, but she was worried about what Rauru would think of the trial. It was definitely worrisome that Ganondorf's fate was in the hands of a balding man whose normally wise judgment always seemed anti-Gerudo.

Nabooru walked into the large courtroom and found that indeed many Gerudos had gone to see. Ganondorf was sitting on his usual court throne while behind two small gates the spectators area was packed. Nabooru took a seat next to Ganondorf where the rest of the council sat. Two guards escorted a hunched figure covered by a dark purple cloak to a table in front of Ganondorf.

Ganondorf snapped his fingers and the hood was lifted from the figure. Neatly brushed black hair peered out of the hood, which the man quickly pulled back into a ponytail when the guards let go of his arms. He had two brown eyes that swept the entire room before coming to rest on Ganondorf.

Nabooru was quite taken back by his appearance, for being a trespasser that had been caught in a rugged desert he certainly was handsome. The man tried to remain calm but his eyes reflected his worry. One guard kept her hand on his shoulder; it made his olive features look pale in comparison.

Snapping Nabooru back to reality Ganondorf took his eyes from the man to lightly punch her shoulder. "He was found in the desert just outside of the guard post by the sand river" he whispered, "I don't know what to make of him". Nabooru nodded; if Ganondorf couldn't make up his mind it meant she might have complete control of the intruder's fate. Of course sometimes that could be a good thing.

Ganondorf rested his arm on the chair and leaned on his hand. He snapped his fingers and the two Gerudos forced the intruder to sit on a small wooden chair placed behind him.

Chuckling softly Ganondorf pointed at the frightened man with his free hand, "speak".

The intruder met Ganondorf's eyes, "I'm terribly sorry, I was lost, I didn't mean to trespass into…" A Gerudo next to him cut him off as Ganondorf frowned, "But you ARE a trespasser". The man straightened. "If I had known I was too close I would have left immediately" he said as politely as he possibly could. After rubbing his chin for a moment Ganondorf replied, "If we let every outsider who was "lost" wander about our land do you know how easy it would be for someone who might actually cause harm to get in?" The man nodded, "Yes, but I assure you I would do you no harm".

Nabooru frowned, she wanted to trust this man but for some reason she felt him dangerous. Ganondorf stroked his chin one last time before he reclined and smirked, "I'm not sure what to do with you" he said out loud. Many murmurs erupted from the crowd. The man looked down, it looked to be a humble action to Nabooru but it could have been deceptive.

Ganondorf called out to the guards next to him, "Put him in the lower dungeon, I'll deal with him later". Nabooru squeezed her eyes shut as the man finally looked up and took his eyes from Ganondorf to her. The man let his eyes rest on her, and they seemed to stay there even after he had been taken from the room.

Nabooru opened her eyes and looked to Ganondorf. "Wasn't that a little harsh?" she asked.

"What did you want me to do", he replied, "let him go?" For a few seconds, Nabooru was sure she hated him, although she didn't know where the feeling came from. Ganondorf turned to face her, she couldn't help but feel everything against him slide away as she took his side then walked out of the room with him.

* * *

It was a very degrading experience for the man, he found himself blindfolded and then taken somewhere that must have been far away because it required a lot of walking. He then was dragged down a set of stairs and tossed in a cold damp stone cell where the blindfold was finally removed. The two guards left him there, and the man was left feeling completely alone in foreign territory. He had heard of Link's adventures through this very same fortress, but Link had been given a high dry cell with a window. It was obvious to him security had tightened, he was in a regular jail cell with three stone walls and one that contained a metal barred gate. The gate itself was also small, and gave a very claustrophobic feeling. From what the man could tell between the tightly spaced bars, the room he was in was large and probably stone also, just it was too dark to make out anything beyond a wooden post spaced a few feet from his cell.

One of the two guards looked towards the man from the top of the staircase, she hadn't been down to the lower dungeon in a long time. During Nabooru's rule, the most used were the upper cells and confined rooms. Ganondorf on the other hand preferred to use the lonely dungeon that led down a long hall to the outside. Of course this lower dungeon was more dangerous, various boxes and old weapons lay in heaps around the room and creatures from the desert loved to use these as hiding spots. The guard shook her head, almost out of concern for the prisoner, and left the dungeon.

Nabooru tried to stay by Ganondorf's side for the rest of the morning, but within an hour she found herself gone again having to perform another duty. It of course bothered Ganondorf that once again, Nabooru was not with him full time.

When she was, she was very helpful and his tasks got done in half of the time it was taking him. He still lived through it and at the end of his day; he lounged in his chambers and called for Nabooru.

This time Nabooru didn't look as flushed and hurried, she sauntered in on time and took a seat by him boldly. Ganondorf grinned as she rested her elbows on her legs.

"You called" she said.

"Did you really not appreciate my decision earlier" he asked as he let his hand trace imaginary patterns into the pillow he was leaning on.

Nabooru sighed, "Well, I was a little disheartened, I had thought a more decisive decision would have been made, something that didn't involve leaving that poor man down there for such a long time".

Ganondorf shook his head softly, "would you rather have had him killed?" he said letting one of his eyes flicker dangerously.

"I don't know", Nabooru, replied wisely, " I shouldn't challenge your judgment".

Obviously impressed by the answer Ganondorf nodded to himself and let his head sink into a pillow. "I guess what I really want to ask you about" he said thoughtfully, " is whether you still respect me and my opinions".

Nabooru pondered the question while Ganondorf continued, "Would you ever go against me, Nabooru can I still trust you?"

Nabooru's head jerked up, "Why of course you can" she said trying to mask the worry she felt.

Ganondorf watched her slim figure, he couldn't tell if she had tensed at his inquiry. When he had been put back into power his suspicions had been aroused. For him, it was impossible even to trust who he had previously thought as his most loyal companion. Well, before he had the witches lock her up and punish her of course. Ganondorf was silent for a few more moments before looking her straight in the eye, "You can go now".

Nabooru frowned for a second before standing to leave, "Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded as she turned from him and left the room.

Nabooru gasped as she walked at a quick pace down the hall. Ganondorf could at any moment discover the secret, and his quickening deductive skills had her worried. She was glad to encounter no Gerudo guards that night; she wouldn't have been able to face them.

* * *

The following morning Nabooru woke up on time and continued to do her early duties. A young Gerudo guard in training was being punished for a mistake and almost crashed into Nabooru while hurrying away. This event did not startle Nabooru, and neither did a runaway horse that barely avoided trampling her while she sauntered by the stables. By the time she reached Ganondorf she appeared so calm, but out of mind that he almost did not notice her.

Sitting upon his throne, Ganondorf had been idly chatting with Ruby. Nabooru snuck in quietly and stood a little off to the side. Ganondorf lifted his hand to acknowledge making Ruby turn as well.

"Good, you're here" Ganondorf said as he sank comfortably into his throne. Nabooru nodded, "You were waiting for me I presume". "How could I have began to address other concerns without help" Ganondorf said before adding, "nothing bad today either". Nabooru approached the side of the throne and nodded to Ruby. Immediately after a small group of flustered Gerudos rushed into the room.

"We were hoping" one started, "to receive permission to host a junior guard tournament". "But we were also hoping" another said, "to be able to allow non Gerudos into a larger tournament." A third Gerudo from the small group waved her hands, "we promise to allow nothing to get out of hand". Walking in from behind the small group a taller Gerudo, Jasmine, the current captain and trainer of the guards pushed through to face her rulers. "I'm so sorry about this, with no notion of sounding so rash, I was hoping to once again host our annual tournament next month". Jasmine paused as one of the girls in the group grabbed her arm and whispered something into her ear.

Ganondorf twirled his fingers while watching them in amusement, "Three tournaments does sound a bit much right now". Ruby smiled, "I would agree with hosting the Gerudo Trials again". Nodding his head Ganondorf thought out loud, "Ah yes, the Gerudo Trials, its been quite a while since we have hosted that tournament now hasn't it". "Expanding it would be marvelous" Ruby added. Jasmine pulled away from the younger Gerudo who kept a firm grip on her arm. "What we were hoping for you to approve on disposing the age limit and allowing more non-Gerudos to participate", she continued "the last tournament held, about ten years ago, was more of a tournament between the races then a challenge between our ranks". Frowning Ganondorf folded his arms, "as I remember that had been hosted on our lands, which had disastrous results". Jasmine excitedly stopped him, "We can host it in a more suitable location, there used to be an old arena somewhere in the South east portion of the Hylain Fields. With some minor repairs we might be able to upgrade it to useable condition". Ganondorf unfolded his arms, "Sounds fine to me, just it seems a little short on time to prepare".

"If we advertise it correctly I'm sure some other people of Hyrule will help" one of the Gerudos in the group called out. "I could easily manage that" Ruby said, "I need something to take my mind off the outsiders". Jasmine smiled, "then may we begin?".

"Yes, commence" Ganondorf said as the young Gerudo finally released Jasmine's arm and clapped. Ruby indicated towards the exit, "Come, I need something to do".

Renove entered the throne room from the side, temporarily disrupting the conversation. Ganondorf turned his head and nodded towards her before looking to see three guards rush into the room. Ganondorf talked quietly with the three guards before they left almost as quickly as they came. Semalie and Taint entered the throne room next, each pointing and arguing over a particular section of a document they held.

"Ganondorf", Semalie began, "If some random group from the forest border lands keeps requesting our assistance on attacking some random town in the border lands should we help?" "Why is a group in the borderlands even requesting help from us?" Ganondorf responded. Taint spoke up, "They claim to be a mix of pirates and thieves, I personally have never heard of them before". Semalie looked from the document to Ganondorf, "we don't know what to do about them, they keep bombarding us with pleas for assistance, and yet not only do we not know them but they plan on attacking another town who we hold nothing against".

Ganondorf let his fingers drum on the chair, "Would they be a threat if we didn't help". Taint shrugged, "I don't know how big or dangerous they are". Ganondorf frowned, "What would be the outcome of us helping them?" "Unclear" Semalie replied, "If they are simple some small band of thieves then we would be simply marking ourselves as a threat to whatever kingdom that town is part of".

"But" Taint continued for her, "if they are a large band, possibly from another kingdom of thieves they could be an ally, and if the town just another random trading town then we would lose nothing". Ganondorf sighed, "I don't know what to do about them, send one troop out to help them with the orders that they are to abandon the group if any funny business comes up".

Both Semalie and Taint nodded. "So we stay impartial but still do something" Taint said, "interesting". The two left the throne room, while Renova turned to Ganondorf. "Was that a wise decision?" she asked. Ganondorf shrugged, "I have no interest in the borderlands and yet problems there keep arising. That would have been a lot easier if either of you had said something" he finished. Renova looked down, "sorry" she said softly. Ganondorf turned to face his second in command, but she still remained silent. Looking straight ahead of her, Nabooru shrugged, "Doing anything in that situation would have been against my better judgment" she said turning to look Ganondorf in the eye. Ganondorf sighed again and turned to face the entrance, where some other guards were coming in.

Nearby the throne room, two Gerudo guards struggled with a blue haired woman. "Let me go" the captive shrieked as the guards tried to hold her down. Isle entered the room, and closed the door; this room being one of the few with a door. The blue haired woman stopped struggling at Isle's entry.

The blue haired woman tossed back her short light hair as Isle approached her and tipped up her chin. Looking the blue haired woman in the eye Isle frowned, "where did you come from" she asked harshly. "Nowhere you would know" the woman replied defiantly. "Why are you here" Isle asked this time even more gruffly. The woman didn't answer. One of the guards kicked her in the stomach, "Answer her correctly" she said forcing the woman to grimace.

"I'm here to see that sorry excuse of a man you call your king" she said. "How dare you say such a thing" one of the guards said giving the woman another kick. Isle frowned while the guards tightened their grip. The blue haired woman let her head drop, "I'm sorry, please let me go". Isle grabbed her head and rammed her knee into it making the woman fall.

Both of the guards let go as the woman sank to her knees on the ground. Lifting her head the woman stared at Isle, her eyes burning with rage. She stood while the guards eyed her every move. Before they could react, the woman thrust out a small hidden sword and pointed it to Isle's throat. "Let me see your king" she said in a commanding voice. Isle looked at the woman smugly, "I would have shown you to him anyway, he decides the punishment for our prisoners".

The woman's eyes widened, "Punishment?" she stuttered. Isle grinned as the guards grabbed each of her arms. "Don't worry, you will see the king" Isle hissed, glad to have regained control. The woman turned her head to stare at Isle as the guards took her from the room, "You present me as an enemy to him, but I can assure you I am far more loyal then you can ever be". Isle raised an eyebrow, "oh really" she said sarcastically. "Yes" the woman said as the guards closed the door, "I would never be loyal to a traitor".

Isle watched the door slam shut behind the trio, before she felt the blood drain from her face. The woman knew that she had participated in the rebellion against Ganondorf, but that wasn't what Isle was worried about. As Isle burst through the door and ran the opposite way down the hallway she could only think of one person, the leader of the rebellion.

She turned a corner and started to sprint, she had to protect Nabooru.

* * *

Ganondorf leisurely leaned against his arm while another Gerudo approached him with a complaint. As the issue was especially boring, he could not think of any response when she finished. The girl in front of him looked up with big eyes, "so your verdict?" she asked innocently.

Nabooru spoke up for the silenced king, "Yes your irrigation idea is good, but transporting the water from Lake Hylia is just as easy, and less costly". Smiling Ganondorf waved the girl off before turning to his second in command. "Thank you" he whispered before turning to face another Gerudo, this time a guard.

Nabooru watched Ganondorf patiently talk to the guard who seemed extremely annoyed and was having trouble keeping her voice lowered. Renova had turned to talk with an attendant. Nabooru's eyes fell to an hourglass sitting on a small pedestal in the middle of the gigantic room; there was still a sufficient amount of sand at the top. Bored, she rested her eyes back on the flustered guard. A sudden movement to her left made her eyes once again wander.

Isle stood panting in the side hall to the throne room; she straightened as Nabooru tilted her head slightly in her direction. Knowing she had caught Nabooru's eye, she made a quick gesture for her to come. Nabooru cocked an eyebrow before turning to Ganondorf and whispering something in his ear. Ganondorf nodded and looked to where Isle stood before turning back to the guard.

"Nabooru, you have to leave" Isle panted pulling Nabooru out of Ganondorf's vision. Nabooru's face remained unreadable, "why?" Isle stuttered, "we caught another trespasser, she knows…she knows you led the rebellion". Nabooru put a finger to her lips, "shush" she said, "how far are they from the throne room?" Isle pointed, "she is here".

Nabooru turned and looked, there indeed entered a blue haired woman surrounded by two guards. Lyiamere trailed them into the room, and Taint peered around the corner confused. The woman looked almost defeated, but still trudged with a hint of defiance in her step. Lyiamere had her arms folded and looked particularly annoyed.

"Nabooru please leave" Isle whispered.

Nabooru nodded and turned to leave. Isle put a hand on her shoulder, "do you think he will notice you being gone…"she began to ask. "Only if she does tell him" Nabooru responded. Isle tried to hold back a tear, "good luck" she whimpered as Nabooru walked down the hall casually but hurried. As Nabooru turned the corner Isle let a single tear drip down her cheek, "please come back alive".

Ganondorf watched the struggling woman and stopped leaning on his hand, he was ready for a more interesting problem. "Ah, what do we have here?" he asked with a slight grin. "Another trespasser" Lyiamere responded for the guards, "and a feisty one too". The blue haired woman lifted her head to look at Ganondorf. He sat on his raised throne with each hand resting on the armrest, his figure alone was imposing.

"And why are you here" he asked almost sarcastically. The woman glared at him, "Does it even matter?" Ganondorf raised an eyebrow, "In your case, I think it does". The woman almost growled, "I want to be released". Ganondorf chuckled, "such a bold request for such a rude woman". Angered, she tugged at the guards and pulled forward almost breaking free. Ganondorf watched in amusement before calling to the guards "release her" The woman fell to the floor and looked up to Ganondorf still angry. He couldn't help the fact that he was enjoying torturing this woman.

Now on her knees the woman looked even smaller and more defenseless, "you laugh now but you are such a fool" she growled. "Hmmm?" Ganondorf implied as he stopped his small chuckle. "You made a fool of my leader" the woman said softly, "but your own people have already made such a fool of you."

"I don't think I know what you are talking about," Ganondorf said, he finally stopped grinning. "Oh you know" the woman laughed, "your people rebelled and made you an outcast so easily". Ganondorf frowned, "That is completely irreverent to your situation now". "Stop hiding" the woman said standing up, "you know what the rebels did".

"I already said, that is not something you should mentioning right now, remember you are at my mercy" Ganondorf replied angrily. "Hearing of this makes you angry doesn't it" the woman now wore an evil grin, "because you know someone higher up led it, someone you think you can trust is not loyal to you". Ganondorf frowned, he was falling into a sort of trance, "So you know who led it," he asked. One of the guards stiffened while Renova edged her way closer to the woman.

"Yes I know" the woman declared boldly, "and I promise you, if you had simply came back to our aid, you would never have to face this problem again". Isle grimaced, the woman had sleazy intentions. Ganondorf barely heard her offer, he had searched for this person for a long time, "Who?" The woman grinned, "Your 'faithful' little second in command" the woman said watching with glee as Ganondorf's eyes widened.

Renova slapped the woman, "How dare you make such an accusation" she cried out. Ganondorf barely heard this, "Nabooru? But there is no way…." Both of the guards ran forward and grabbed the woman's arms, they had heard enough as well. "You know she did" the woman said struggling forward against the guards, "she had the support, the skills, and the access to your every planned move". Ganondorf turned his head sharply finally noticing Nabooru had not returned, he stood and walked forward. Renova slipped out of his way, as he barged through. Lyiamere turned to watch him barely whispering a "what about the woman?"

Ganondorf turned, "Lock her up" he said, anger was in every word. From the side hallway, Isle cried.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Chase

Nabooru slipped through the streets quickly. She had wanted to take a back alley to sneak out, but she didn't have the time. A few Gerudo guards looked at her questioningly as she pushed through a small crowd to get to the gate to the desert. Recognizing her the guard there called for the gate to be lifted, and the Gerudo up top leisurely went about doing it. At the bottom Nabooru tried not to seem anxious, but couldn't help the worry that came when two guards burst out of the fortress. As soon as there was enough lifted for her to go through she shot under much to the surprise of the guard. She ran out and tried to find the sign near the river of sand.

Ganondorf made his way out of the fortress in a much shorter time, as he didn't have to look unsuspicious. He slipped through a shortcut to the gate without questions from any guards there and immediately came to the gate where the guard had to once again painfully call for the gate to be lifted.

Nabooru grabbed at the loose sand and eagerly shot out her prized long shot. She came to the other side and began to run again, barely being able to stop from falling in the shifting sands. She saw a flag and quickly made a dash to grab the pole. The line of poles was tedious to maneuver through, and lacking time made her barge through. She continued to barge through the pole's path while sand whipped her face. She passed the guide's rock and tried to continue running. A large sudden blast of swirling sand momentarily stopped her and shifted the sands making her lose her footing. She fell to the ground and slowly pulled up from the ground while panting. As she raised to jump to her feet, she nearly feel again to the sound of Ganondorf's oh too familiar voice.

"Don't move," he bellowed. Nabooru whipped her head to the side; Ganondorf's massive figure stood just a few feet from her. She continued to stand, but as she rose to her knees Ganondorf's boot heavily connected with her back. She rolled over to stare at him face up. Ganondorf bent down and grabbed her by the neck, "you" he growled, "traitor". Nabooru clutched at the hand around her neck while she began to whimper. "I'm…sorry, I…" she could barely make out any noise at all.

Ganondorf lifted her, forcing her to her feet. "I can't believe someone in my highest rankest would ever do something like that" he yelled angrily, "and this entire time I thought you someone I could trust". Nabooru remained silent, wanting to look down, to escape.

Scowling, he threw her back down to the ground. "So pathetic, I hate it", his voice quieted, but not before he violently kicked at her frightened figure on the ground.

Nabooru crawled out of the way only to be met by another kick. She flopped on to her belly and pushed herself farther away from him. Ganondorf marched after her, angrily kicking at the sand. He reached her and once again forced her onto her back, at the mercy of his will. "How could you do such a thing, go against me and when I thought I could trust you" he forced out beginning to growl again

"How could you?" he spat out punching at the ground and letting his fist land a few inches from her head. She gulped before whispering, "I'm sorry," then after a pause, "for this". Nabooru rammed her knee into Ganondorf's lower body, today he was wearing normal Gerudo attire and no armor protected him. Ganondorf doubled over while she shot out from his grasp and began to run again. He stood watching her in pain for a moment, before letting out a roar of anger and charging after her again.

Nabooru ran barely being able to guide herself along the strict pathway. She stumbled over a large clump of sand and shot into the desert oasis. Immediately the spinning cactuses began to come at her, but none could reach her sprinting figure. Ganondorf followed not far behind. He entered the desert oasis much easier then she had and took to immediately charging towards the spirit temple. Nabooru threw herself up the steps and bursting in through the doors. Ganondorf threw open the temple doors to see Nabooru starting up a staircase, he snarled and charged after her just as she turned to jog down a hallway.

Still having the small lead, Nabooru turned to a back hallway and prayed she would lose him in the maze of hallways leading to her target destination. Ganondorf was no so easily fooled and quickly followed her down the back hallway, "Nabooru" he yelled as she turned another corner, "stop!" Ganondorf turned the corner after her and was shocked to run into two heavy wooden doors. He snarled and burst through them to find himself looking at a room with two large spinning spikes on chains rushing around the center. Nabooru looked to him in shock and dove into the chain's line of attack.

She immediately ducked as the large spike nearly smashed her head then rolled out of the way as the chain just about snagged her. Ganondorf looked about him for a second before jumping just barely out of the way of the spike. The confinement of the room meant that there were only two small pathways to the side of either chain, and both appeared to be guarded as when Ganondorf took a step a ball connected to a different chain swung from the ceiling.

Ganondorf threw himself out of the way of the swinging ball and made his way towards Nabooru. Crawling out of the way of the spike Nabooru ducked along the side path. Ganondorf not enjoying the constant ducking reached up and grabbed the spike's chain, tangling it around his wrist but stopping the spinning. He threw the chain to the side as blood dripped down his hand. Nabooru stood up and turned to watch him as she warily started walking backwards towards the other side of the room.

Angry as ever Ganondorf continued to walk towards her, she had made it outside the spike's circle. "Ganondorf" she whispered, "get down, please".

He grimaced at her and continued to move towards her, "why so you can escape" he asked with a slight snarl. She shook her head, "Ganondorf, that chain can still move". Turning in shock Ganondorf watched as the chain suddenly jolted to life and spun towards him. It slashed his back and knocked him face down to the floor. Nabooru's eyes widened but she didn't stop moving towards the exit at the other side of the room.

Ganondorf's hand twitched, and he raised his head to let his burning eyes rest on her retreating figure. He began to crawl under the spinning chain towards her. Nabooru felt for the back door and grabbed at the hard wood.

Ganondorf reached the end of the chain and pulled himself to his feet. There was a second of silence, Nabooru stood motionless at the door her face full of fear. Ganondorf stood just barely out of the chains reach, he stared at her for a minute, his expression softening, and then he charged. Nabooru opened the door wide enough for her to slip through then slammed it.

Safely on the other side she found herself in a strangely familiar hallway, large and extravagantly decorated but eerie. She quickly sprinted down the long hallway and reached the two heavy opposite doors. Letting her fingers slide over the smooth surface, she fingered the handles to them. Ganondorf burst through the opposite door, looking mad as ever. Nabooru went through the doors to the next room and left Ganondorf to watch in amazement as the two doors banged shut by themselves. He started down the hall, wounded and panting he maintained a brisk walk.

By the time Ganondorf reached the doors, whatever burst of energy he had gotten from being angry was gone. He let himself rest, bending over to lean against his knees before he walked closer to the doors. They were huge, stretching far above him and painted red with various swirls and spirals of yellow. Ganondorf stood and stared at them, he hadn't had much time to contemplate his decision to run after Nabooru since he decided it. Shrugging, he pushed the doors open; there was time for regret later.

Nabooru stood on a small red carpet directly opposite the doors and Ganondorf. The room they were in was humongous. It was composed of yellow aged brick and stretched on for a long time before reaching a domed top. Two large stone statues of giant like creatures that rose taller then a two-story house sat in the center. Ganondorf took a minute to let the room sink in, in here he felt stifled. And he knew why, the room didn't allow any magic at all.

Ganondorf stopped looking around the room to let his eyes home in on Nabooru. He stared at her all the way across the room, standing with her arms loosely folded but her head hung in a sort of strange fear.

"Looks like I found you" Ganondorf loudly called to her. Nabooru's head rose, but she remained silent. He stared at her perplexed, before frowning. "And now I'm coming to get you." Nabooru did again was silent, she watched him walk from the doorway to the sand. The doors slammed behind him.

Ganondorf took another step, Nabooru did not respond. He took another step, she looked to the ground. Another step, she closed her eyes as a faint "boom" was heard. He continued to walk towards her, the booms got louder. Perking up his ears, Ganondorf stopped walking, he had reached the center of the room. Ganondorf looked to his feet, a few grains of sand jumped against the floor. The boom was heard louder, more consistent. Ganondorf closed his eyes then opened them, it was not an illusion, the sand on the floor was moving. Looking up to Nabooru again, he was met with wide eyes.

A tear dribbled down her cheek, as Nabooru looked to the two statues. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I didn't want to have to do this. If you have it in your heart to calm down and walk to me right now, please, I implore you, calm down and let us talk."

Ganondorf slowly turned around and fell back in shock. To his sides large old stone loomed over him. The two statues had come to life, and were looking at him with mean eyes.

He regained his former stance and backed up. Immediately the statues both grunted and one took a step towards him, his foot landed with a large "boom". Ganondorf gasped, and both statues became livid.

Ganondorf backed to a side, moving quickly as the Statue to his left began to charge at him. Running backwards, Ganondorf reached the wall and slid along it, unfortunately in the direction opposite the doors. As he neared Nabooru's small cove in the room, the second statue jumped to life and smashed down behind him. Now cornered against the wall by the two statues Ganondorf found himself with little escape. Dodging a stone fist he ran towards the first statue, where he was met by a heavy kick. He crashed back against the wall, cracking some of the stones. His eyes widened as another fist was thrown at him and he quickly threw himself to the floor. Rolling out of the way of the second statue's legs he made a dash and came out behind the two statues, in clear view of Nabooru.

Ganondorf watched as the first statue, quicker to react, charged at him. He bent down to a crouch and ducked between the giant's legs. The statue still on a running path smashed against the wall, and was temporarily extremely confused. With the first statue out of the way, Ganondorf concentrated on the second that had finally noticed him standing back in the center of the room. It charged as well, but stopped directly in front of him and threw a punch to the ground. Ganondorf jumped out of the way and watched as another fist came down nearly clipping his side. He continued to maneuver out of the way until a blow came down at a diagonal path, smashing Ganondorf's side as he jumped out of the way.

"Could you please come here?" Nabooru asked, "Stopped fighting and come to me, please?"

Ganondorf stopped in agony as his side began to hurt immensely. At that moment the statue punched with a force strong enough to clip Ganondorf's head clean off. Ganondorf put out his hands and caught the fist, straining his muscles to keep the large rock from crushing him. Across the room the other statue walked around in confusion, it had still not spotted Ganondorf struggling with the other statue.

Nabooru watched Ganondorf hold the giant stone creature's fist above him, a task she had never seen any other man do before. These giants had an unbroken record for smashing and mutilating all victims that had ever ended up against them. She had never seen a man last so long against them before. She had also never ever suspected that Ganondorf was strong enough to hold one like he was without magic or weapons. "Ganondorf?" she pleaded.

"Nabooru" Ganondorf called, looking to her as a last chance at living, "Nabooru please call it off me, I can't hold it like this forever". Nabooru frowned, her eyes reflecting the straining man holding off the blow that should have killed him. "I want to, but I can't," she said.

Ganondorf stressed as the statue began trying to move its fist towards him again, it remained in its punching position and placed down its other fist for leverage. The first statue had finally taken notice, of a pillar and had now proceeded to claw at it violently.

Ganondorf strained his muscles again and placed a foot back, pushing the giant's fist upwards. He felt something go, and pushed harder as the giant's fist finally began to move. Pushing it to the side, Ganondorf strained one last time to throw the fist off of him to the sand. He panted for a minute, watching his victory to be short lived as the giant stood, its eyes wide and angry.

Ganondorf began to walk backwards, towards Nabooru, as the giant slowly lumbered towards him. He quickened his pace and reached the wall just to the right of her small opening. Not daring to go closer as the giant seemed overprotective he called out, "can you please call it off". His voice was desperate as he turned towards her, "please?"

Nabooru let her eyes slowly travel to Ganondorf, standing there panting with a busted side and a broken spirit. She looked to him meeting his eyes, "can we talk about this calmly?"

Ganondorf closed his eyes and turned his head from Nabooru to the large statue that had reached him and stood angrily above him. "Yes" he whispered as the statue raised a fist. Nabooru looked at him hopefully, "really?" she asked. "Yes really" he said slowly but gruffly.

Nabooru looked to her king, "you don't really think that", and then she added, "I can tell". "What do you mean I don't think so", Ganondorf responded in annoyance as the first statue saw him and began to walk towards him, "I just told you". Nabooru watched him with sad eyes, "Ganondorf I can't call these things off, and they will continue to eliminate whatever they consider a threat".

Ganondorf gasped, "what?" he asked in an almost scared voice. The first statue's fist came down and smashed his stomach, once again pulverizing him against the wall. He slid down from against the wall and looked as the statue in front of him moved to let give Ganondorf full view of the other statue, as it prepared to charge.

"Well if that's the case", Ganondorf said almost sad, "then I'm sorry for chasing you". Ganondorf closed his eyes and stood there defeated, waiting for the charge.

Ganondorf stood there waiting for a second as the statue began to charge booming away. As the booms neared him he stopped listening and just waited for the final blow. He stood there for a moment before he warily opened one eye, the blow never came. The first statue had stopped charging and was trudging back to its normal seated spot. The second statue had already taken its spot, opposite the first.

Ganondorf watched feeling extremely befuddled. Nabooru grinned as she watched the second statue sit, he obviously wasn't going to try and kill her again. Ganondorf let his arms fall to his sides as the last statue sat. He then turned to face the exit.

Looking to Nabooru with a confused expression Ganondorf asked warily, "why are they…"? Nabooru interrupted him by running towards him and throwing her arms around his neck. "You should be glad you are even alive" she replied resting her head on his shoulder and squeezing him into a hug.

Ganondorf let his arms loosely wrap around her waist as she pulled away to look at his face. "I'm still mad at you" he replied staring at her with his burning eyes, but not matching the look with his beaten body. Nabooru jumped back into the hug, "we can talk later" she replied not wanting to spoil the moment.

Together, Ganondorf and Nabooru walked back through the spirit temple. Feeling extremely weak, Ganondorf leaned on Nabooru. He didn't even worry bout how he would seem to her. Nabooru simply guided her beaten king down the hall and into a small room where she laid him down on a bed.

From there, Ganondorf blacked out.

* * *

Nabooru gently woke him up a few hours later. Opening his eyes, Ganondorf was met with the small, sparsely decorated room, a typical guest room for the Spirit temple. Nabooru stood beside him, not speaking. Ganondorf looked at her standing there as he tried to formulate the right words to say to her, but he could find none.

Nabooru sighed, "I'm sorry" she whispered, "again". Ganondorf nodded closing his eyes, as Nabooru took a step to leave the room. His eyes sprung open, "You do know I will still punish you for your crimes". Nabooru turned out of pure shock.

Ganondorf nodded closing his eyes, "Don't go anywhere, you won't do anything if you want to remain in your high position". Nabooru turned on her heels and left, Ganondorf didn't say anything else.

Later that day, Ganondorf opened his eyes once more to realize that he had once again fallen asleep. The wounds he had received earlier were nonexistent, though that was no surprise as he had suspected Nabooru had the power to heal a wound that quickly. What did come of as a surprise was that Nabooru was not near, and even after he had gotten up and paced the hall, he could not find her.

Ganondorf walked outside and found the desert sky jet black and the weather frigid. It was too late at night for her to be wandering the desert, and she had more sense then to try and hide somewhere outside. He shrugged and went back inside, forgetting about his search for her for the moment.

Ganondorf walked into the spirit temple to find the rooms dimmed and some of the torches blown out. He walked up the stairs of the entrance hall and wasn't surprised that the torches in the passageways had completely been blown out. He made his way down the darkened hallway and turned into one where the torches were still lit. He looked into a few rooms before he found what he was looking for. Sitting on a chair looking at a small stone fireplace was the graceful figure of Nabooru.

Ganondorf slowly walked in and put a hand on her shoulder. Tilting her head her eyes swept from his hand to his face where she gazed up at him. He looked at her, his expressions unreadable as he bent down to her level.

"I'm glad you have not left me," he said softly.. She looked to him and murmured, "Why would I leave?" Ganondorf simply smiled as he moved in to kiss her neck, "it's so unfortunate that something so beautiful would ever do something so awful".

Nabooru frowned "why do you say things like that if you plan on hurting me?" Ganondorf lifted his other hand and pulled her chin to look her in the eyes.

"Why did you ever betray me?" he responded.

"I do what I must for the good of the Gerudo" she said, her eyes grew wet. "And I must not qualify as a Gerudo" he said releasing her chin and looking to the fire.

"Ganondorf, you know what I mean" she said, "I would never betray you if it was meant to simply harm you".

"Oh" Ganondorf said, eyes beginning to flair, "then what did you mean by your betrayal, for me to get locked up, for me to not be in power?"

Nabooru reached up to put both of her hands on the sides of his face, she pulled him to face her. Looking at him with sad eyes she simply murmured, "no…" as she reached forward and kissed him.

She held him there for a few moments before letting go. Ganondorf slowly pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. He knew what she had rebelled against him for, and he hated her for it. But then again he thought as he pushed towards her, there was time for those feelings later.

"I love you," she whispered as she kissed him again, "I didn't love the dark magic. None of us did. I never wanted to hurt you."

"Stop," he said. With one hand he slowly lowered her against the chair to lay almost flat. He kissed the side of her jaw and slowly worked his way down to kiss her stomach, "I don't want to hear of it right now."

"What do you want to hear?" she asked. "You say you love me?" he asked her. "That I can promise you," she replied. "Well you can say that again," he said as he slipped an arm underneath the swell of her back and started to lift her against him. "Again," he whispered as he pulled her close to him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her up. "I love you," she said again. She fell silent as this time he kissed her much deeper.

"The hardest thing about this," Ganondorf said as he held her there and stared at her, he was inches from her face, "I love you too."

* * *

Nabooru woke up early the next morning, and found herself in a bed. It was obvious Ganondorf had put her there as she didn't remember falling asleep in a bed. She quickly got up and located her jewel piece, which was lying on a table near her. She considered putting it on for a moment before setting it back down, she didn't want the Gerudos to see her in full attire if she was to be punished. The last image she could ever hope for them to not see would be of their great general being punished by their king.

She walked down the hall sleepily to locate Ganondorf attired in his spare set of black armor. She crept towards him quietly while looking to the ground as he turned and saw her. "You will be returning with me" he said, "and I plan on it being with you alive". He narrowed his eyes at her, "no struggling or attempts at escaping, I'm not in the mood to chase".

Nabooru couldn't help it, she looked at him with devilish eyes and replied, "so tired maybe from…" he cut her off and backhanded her across the face. "None of that either" he growled pushing her down the hall and out the Spirit Temple's exit.

Nabooru shielded her eyes and she started the path back across the haunted wasteland. Ganondorf followed behind her. He towered over her if she started to slow down and yanked her back sharply if she sped up. The trip across the desert was not pleasant at all, and when she walked by the Poe's rock even it looked to her in pity. As it was still early morning, the gray misty skies did nothing to aid Ganondorf's sour mood.

At the fortress it came as no surprise that not many Gerudos were outside. A few scattered guards did their early morning patrolling and one obliviously cheerfully waved at Nabooru and Ganondorf. Ganondorf kneed Nabooru in the back, hard, and she waved back as well.

Inside Isle nervously paced around. Her eyes shone with relief when Nabooru entered the room then immediately went dull as she saw Ganondorf pushing along behind her.

"Get some chains or something, she is to be punished for betrayal" Ganondorf growled, before looking to Isle with almost what seemed malice, "but you would know more about that then I would now wouldn't you". Isle stood there stunned for a moment before hurrying off to find some handcuffs. Renova entered the room carrying some rope ones, and Isle stopped for a moment. "Rope?" Ganondorf said sounding a little pained at the site of them, before looking to Nabooru and nodding, "fine, fine".

Sighing, Nabooru let Renova bind her wrists before meeting her peer's gaze. Renova looked at first with pity, then turned her eyes down in shame. Approaching Ganondorf again Nabooru sighed as she followed him out of the room down a passageway with Isle and Renova following. When they reached a point out of earshot of all those who were not supposed to be following, Ganondorf stopped and faced Nabooru. "I'm ready to take full responsibility for my actions," she said looking from her feet to his eyes. Ganondorf nodded, and his snarl slightly softened. "I suppose you are sorry" he said doubtfully, "but I do intend to fully punish you for you misdeeds".

Nabooru bowed her head as Ganondorf looked to her, his mood being as fickle as fate at the moment. He debated with himself before saying, "You will be locked in the lower dungeon, if you survive the period down there you will be able to resume your full responsibilities". Nabooru simply nodded, a time in the dungeon was dangerous but if it meant being accepted again she would do it.

Isle and Renova meanwhile gasped, "Ganondorf..." Renova started timidly, "are you sure that would be the best punishment right now?" "Yea", Isle finished for her, "could she take a beating?" It was Nabooru's turn to gasp while Ganondorf looked at them with a puzzled expression, "You are suggesting other punishments?"

Renova nodded "Yes, yes I…" she started as Ganondorf cut her off. "The decision is final, she is a strong girl, a little time alone will be good for her". Isle shook her head as Ganondorf led the silent Nabooru away. "No Ganondorf wait" she said following him. Isle and Renova looked to each other worriedly, there had been spot tings of a notorious desert creature in the dungeon. Neither wanted for anything to happen to Nabooru.

Nabooru was led down the long staircase to the lower dungeon. Ganondorf didn't even bother blinding or gagging her, she knew the way anyways. At the very bottom he found it unnaturally cold and quiet, it made sense of course as the only other person known alive in the long dungeon was the prisoner thrown in so shortly ago.

Ganondorf led Nabooru to a post where he attached her bonded hands to shackles that held her firmly in place. Stretched out and worried Nabooru looked up to Ganondorf's eyes one last time, trying to plead her way out of punishment. To no avail he didn't return the look, and instead Ganondorf walked back up towards the stairs. Walking back towards the stairs he turned and took one last at her. He himself was still angry that his second in command would ever betray him, but punishing her meant certain dislike from his people. This was one of the hardest decisions Ganondorf had to face right now, and it was certainly killing him.


	10. Chapter 10 - The Dungeon

Nabooru struggled against the rope chains. She was glad they didn't make noise when jiggled. It came as a surprise that Ganondorf had allowed her rope chains, as they were easier to escape. While at the same time rope meant for splinters and it hurt a lot worse when tugged at then the cool metal. There was no reason she could conjure up that Ganondorf would have had to choose rope over metal, but there was always time for thinking later, she was concentrating on the fact that she was tied up right now.

Looking at Nabooru from his small cell door, the prisoner captured earlier eagerly peered at whatever had just been thrown in the dungeon with him. He was shocked to see a Gerudo attached to the post, he didn't think they would lock up their own kind in such a place.

He continued to scrutinize her, she was a lot prettier then the guards that had locked him up, and she appeared to be of lower class by the way she was dressed. As he tried to think of what she could have done to end up down so low Nabooru sharply turned her head, spotting him.

The man cowered back out of the doorway and gray light. He didn't want to be seen like this. Even though she was obviously in chains as well.

Nabooru peered over in the cell, she was a little relieved that she wasn't the only living thing in the dungeon. She called to the dark cell, "hello". Her voice softly echoed through his small space. The man came to the front of the cell, he looked to his feet. "Hello "he replied.

Nabooru smiled, "I'm amazed that you have survived this long in the dungeon" she said.

The man looked up, "It's lonely down here, I would rather have died".

Nabooru shook her head, "I'm sure you have family that you would want to return to, a reason to not die".

The man frowned fingering the remaining fragments of a small dagger, "My fiancé was killed by a band of thieves, my house destroyed while I was on a trip…I hate thieves."

Nabooru shrugged while saying in the same mysterious tone as she had with Ganondorf, "Are you sure you want to be saying that right now?"

The man frowned in confusion; she seemed rather calm for being left out in the open tied to a pole. "What could you have done that was so bad you had to be brought down here" he asked trying his hardest now to look her in the eye.

She shrugged again, "take a wild guess".

The man looked to the ground, considering this for a moment before suggesting, "Stealing something maybe?"

Nabooru leaned her head back and let out a little laugh, "Why would thieves imprison me for stealing?" The man stared at her, there was something about her he couldn't figure out.

In the distance a large clacking was heard, the man jumped to the back of his cell and Nabooru found herself going rigid. Nervously the man stepped back out and looked down the long hall, something else was down there. Nabooru looking unfazed, it had occurred to her many times that other creatures could get in, she had never remembered it being a problem before.

The man looked back to Nabooru, now having to break the scared silence. He let his arms hang through the tiny bar spaces and said in a concerning tone, "well I don't really have any idea why you would need to be punished, but I am sorry that you were sentenced to this dungeon. I'm sure whatever you did didn't deserve this".

Nabooru nodded, "You're right" she said, "what I did to my king should have led to a much worse punishment".

The man now gasped in slight shock, "Are you really that bad a person? To be a criminal to criminals?"

Shrugging Nabooru turned her head fully towards him, looking him directly in the eyes, "what I did was not of criminal intention, but it hurt one of my kind so much, it seems to have become that". It was then, looking Nabooru directly in the eyes that the man realized who she was, his eyes lit up with recognition.

"I've seen you before" the man said, "I saw you at your king's right side, you are the Gerudo general!" Nabooru smiled, "why of course I am, and only someone as high up as I was could get sent so low so quickly". "I see" the man said, "what did you do?"

Nabooru debated whether to tell him for a minute before lifting her head to look him in the eyes again, "I committed the highest form of treason possible. When my king took a different path, a darker one we shall say, I rebelled and immediately lost him support that could have led to him holding all of Hyrule". The man gasped, now he was only acting. He had guessed long before at whom Ganondorf's depriver of power was, it was almost music to his ears to know it was Nabooru, the woman the Assassins hated.

"So, you are Nabooru, the general of the Gerudos, the one sneaky enough to foil a dark kings plans", the man grinned. Nabooru couldn't help noticing how even in the poor light the man's grin was more handsome then evil, a smile that was extremely charming. "Nabooru I am so honored to make your acquaintance" the man said, "my name is Jason Marx the second, and out of my entire stay here I must admit meeting you down here has to be the best part. Nabooru smiled girlishly, "I'm glad you feel that way".

* * *

It did not take long for the Jason to start on his story of how he gotten to the Gerudo fortress. He had started in a borderland country and after his town was attacked by the assassins, he had lost all of his friends and family. After being the only one left he was forced to run, and had almost an entire troop trailing him through the towns. He took refuge in the desert and walked as far out as he could. Finally when he could go no more he tried to go back and found himself lost. After marching for days the Gerudo desert patrol picked him up and charged him with trespassing. The details of the story Nabooru wasn't quite too sure of, so she didn't inquire. But as the man was so charming in the majority of his ways, it was her natural instinct to playfully chat with him.

Later when it seemed the late evening, Nabooru was still strung up and the Jason behind bars. Not expecting any visitors, Nabooru nearly jumped when she heard the stairway door open and footsteps descending the ladder. Jason who had been talking amiably shrunk to the back of his dark cell as the person reached the bottom. A boot clicked along the floor and Nabooru could feel her heart pounding, it was Ganondorf.

Ganondorf slowly walked to the center of the room where Nabooru stood, still attached by her bindings, she had no signs of attempted escape.

Ganondorf looked her up and down, "are you tired after standing all day?" he asked slyly.

Nabooru gulped, "well…I" she was cut off as he lifted his arm as if to slap her.

Nabooru turned her face back towards him, "yes" she replied.

"Much better" Ganondorf said circling her post, "I would have thought you would tried to escape by now, but then you surprise me a lot now don't you".

Nabooru closed her eyes and tried not to gasp for air, "I am sorry" she said still choked.

Ganondorf stopped back at the front of her, "oh and she still apologizes, I'm sorry its so hard to forgive someone who might turn her back and rebel at any moment" he snarled.

"You know I wouldn't…Ganondorf" she said with barely a whisper. Ganondorf put a finger to her lips, "and you expect me to take your word now?"

Almost to tears Nabooru opened her eyes, "I would never hurt you directly".

Ganondorf continued to snarl, "and how am I supposed to believe that" he said leaning in close up against her, his intense eyes burning into hers.

Nabooru looked at him, a single tear fell down her cheek as she tried to choke out the words she was thinking, but something completely different came out. "I" she whispered, "I…I…love you".

Ganondorf's eyes widened, he wasn't expecting that from her. His snarl faded and he stepped back, he turned on his heels and started the long walk back to the stairs.

Nabooru sighed as Jason came to the front of the bars, he watched Ganondorf retreat back to the stairs before he looked to her with nearly bulging eyes. "Nabooru, I'm so sorry, but I think we must go now."

"Go" Nabooru said puzzled, "how and…why?"

Jason looked to his right now the corridor to the outside, "we aren't alone."

Nabooru looked to where he pointed, her eyes flashed, as she comprehended what he meant, there was a beast from the outside stealthily coming towards them, and it looked hungry. Jason's worried eyes flew frantically back to the beast before pointing to the cage door, "how do I get out" he mouthed to Nabooru. She tilted her head from the lock, to the top of the wall. He looked to where she had indicated and was pleasantly surprised to see the top of his cage completely open. He put a foot on the lock and jumped trying to reach the top of the bars.

His hand slipped and he quickly grabbed at the dark to pull himself up and over. Sitting on top of the structure he looked down the hall to the beast to realize that where its eyes should have been were two swollen sockets, it was blind. But that didn't matter as the creature's humongous ears twitched at even the slightest jingle.

Jason threw himself over the fence and softly landed on the other side. His cloak billowed about to rest on the back of his neck as he walked to Nabooru. He looked at her questioningly for a moment as his eyes flew from the ropes tied to her wrists and ankles. Nabooru smiled at him and easily pulled her wrists out to reveal the rope still tied in the position around her wrists. Jason shook his head a little surprised that the great Gerudo king had not noticed this then watched as Nabooru quickly reached down and unwound the rope binding her feet. She now stood free to move and she quickly instructed Jason to move towards a wooden beam that shot towards the ceiling.

As Jason crept to the side Nabooru turned and was met with a shocking sight, the beast had no longer continued along its creeping path and had now switched to hiding. She turned a bit in fear before trying to get Jason's attention. With his back to her he didn't notice and Jason continued to the post. Nabooru shrugged and walked towards him, making sure her every movement was silenced. Jason turned and looked around him as Nabooru stood gaping at the sight directly in front of him. The beast pushed out from behind some crates and walked directly in front of Jason. It sniffed him, every breath a "huff" "puff" and then opened its ears making it seem much larger. The black furred creature crouched as Jason stood obviously in front of it.

He turned and stared, his mouth opened and Nabooru pulled an arm over his mouth keeping him silent. The two watched, Nabooru wrapping her loose arm tightly around Jason as the two quietly tried to back up. The beast shook its head from side to side, then charged.

It seemed a sudden static moment where everything was silent, then the beast reared up in front of Jason and jumped, springing a ton of muscle and desert toughened fur at him. Nabooru yelled something that sounded like "get down!" and that was exactly what Jason did, suddenly being forced to his belly. The beast landed on the other side of him and tuned grabbing at the ground with its mouth. Nabooru rolled out of the way while Jason crawled towards the post. He jumped to his feet and ran not caring about the noise. The beast chased him, smashing some boxes and nearly taking out a metal beam falling from the ceiling. Nabooru placed her back to a post and stayed silent as Jason ran at a wall. He ducked and sent the beast sprawling into the wall, chopping and growling like crazy. Jason backed up, grabbing at a crate for comfort as the beast smashed its head in confusion into the wall. The beast turned around, angry again, and was met by silence.

It tilted its head from side to side as it suddenly heard the soft clicking's of a boot. Nabooru closed her eyes and almost wanted to cry as Ganondorf entered the hall a second time.

Ganondorf looked about himself in confusion, it was unusually dark and quiet. Nabooru raised her eyes, she tried to catch his glance. Looking about Ganondorf at first could not see anything, then he spotted Jason grasping a crate and Nabooru backed against a pole. He looked at them in confusion for a moment before the beast lunged from his left.

With Ganondorf to take care of the beast Jason saw it as his golden opportunity to escape and immediately began running down the corridor. Nabooru started to follow then looked wistfully at her king making her stop. Jason grabbed her arm and pulled her along, away from the beast towards the desert. Nabooru allowed him for a moment before sharply yanking his arm and pointing in the opposite direction. "No that way" she said in a commanding voice, then added, "its safer in the fortress".

Nabooru sprinted across as Jason tried his hardest to follow her speedy trail. Ganondorf had now pushed back the large beast and was forcing apart its two massive jaws, keeping it from clamping down on a misplaced part of his arm. Nabooru kept herself from looking at him as she charged up the steps, not noticing Ganondorf's betraying glance he shot at her. Jason followed at her heels and said nothing, he continued to pant as they burst from the trap door and reached the hallway.

A few Gerudos stood around outside, including a handful of higher ranking guards and Ruby. Staring at the two in confusion the guards stood by way to stunned to react.

Nabooru recovered first and pointed at the nearest guard, "you" she bellowed in between breathes, "weapon, now". The guard complied and lightly tossed her small sword at Nabooru. Nabooru grabbed one of Jason's hands then nearly galloped back down the stairs with him following.

"Shouldn't we be leaving instead of going back?" he asked feeling extremely worried.

Nabooru just growled, "I am not leaving Ganondorf down there alone".

Jason was befuddled, after all the abuse Ganondorf had given her, Nabooru eagerly ran back down to help him. He shook his head of all his puzzled thoughts and followed her to the large dark desert beast.

Ganondorf kicked at its head, trying to find a moment to grasp for his sword as it attacked again. It did not help that he had been completely unprepared, with about as much armor as he had against the statues and no time to formulate a dark magic attack. The beast shot out at him again as he punched it, giving him a second to breathe as it retreated then pounced again. The beast ripped open its mouth, snagging Ganondorf's arm, making two deep cuts. Ganondorf kicked it this time, sending it backwards with its jaw confusedly clamped shut.

Nabooru charged down the bottom of the steps and slid along the floor to Ganondorf's side. He looked down to her then grabbed the small sword and this time sliced at the beast with it. He came down hard on its face, slashing it and forcing it to crawl away in momentary defeat. Ganondorf grabbed Nabooru's arm and slowly backed towards the stairs. Jason started to climb them as the king of the Gerudos walked towards him. As soon as Ganondorf and Nabooru had reached the stairwell, the three of them started up the steps, leaving the beast clueless and alone in the dark dungeon.

Jason once again burst out of the trap door and was subject to stares. Ganondorf came out looking far more regal with Nabooru grasped firmly by the arm. He reached the top and looked to the guards.

"Make sure this door stays locked" he said to a guard, then he indicated at Jason, "and do something with him". After his small speech Ganondorf took the bewildered Nabooru back down a hall and disappeared with her from the guard's vision.

Ganondorf dragged Nabooru to his chambers, he quickly threw her into the room and locked the door. He walked towards her angrily as she started to cower, something she hadn't done in a long time. He reached her and grabbed the back of her ponytail. He yanked her head up and forced her to look at him. He wanted to growl, or snarl, but as he looked at the scared face of Nabooru, he could do neither. Ganondorf let his features soften as he let go of her hair and left her standing there in front of him with no restrictions.

She left her gaze fall to the floor as she walked to a nearby couch and sat down. Ganondorf followed her and sat down beside her, making the atmosphere extremely uncomfortable. Nabooru leaned and put her head on her hands, a tear fell down her cheek as she whispered, "I'm sorry".

Putting an arm around her back Ganondorf pulled Nabooru into his embrace and kissed the top of her head. She looked ridiculously pitiful and he was still mad at her, but it seemed so hard to yell at her. After all he did still care about her.

"So" he said resting his chin on her head, "why don't we talk, I am guessing you would like to be able to explain." He had so many other things to say too. That locking her up down there was killing him. That finding out it was her was killing him. That he could barely process his own feelings right now...

"I would like that" Nabooru said, "but it would be much easier if you decided if you were mad at me or not".

Ganondorf shrugged, "Naby, I am furious with you, and at the moment I don't know how I will ever be able to forgive you".

Nabooru looked to the floor, "I know I have wronged you, but everyone can forgive".

Lifting his head Ganondorf let go of her, "Even if right now I wanted to, why would I forgive the woman who rebelled against me and lost me the support of my own race when I needed them the most, why would I forgive you when you made me lose so much?"

Nabooru let out in barely a whisper, "because I forgave you."

"What was that", Ganondorf said suspiciously.

"Because" Nabooru said in a louder voice looking up, "I forgave you."

Ganondorf once again let out a small snarl as he roughly grabbed Nabooru's chin and forced her to look him in the eyes, "Forgave me for what? What have I ever done to you? Nothing! I give you a high position in society, let you share My decisions, My power…"

Doing something she had never done to her king before, Nabooru cut him off in mid-sentence and slapped him. "What have you done to me? Nothing, of course you did nothing to me personally. I'm talking about what you did to an entire race of people depending on you for guidance, I'm talking about how you abused a power, about how you yourself disconnected the ties between people and king!" Nabooru stood up from the couch and backed away seeing as Ganondorf was now again glaring, "You made a decision the rest of the council didn't agree on, no one else wanted you to invade Hyrule single handedly, and no one else surely would have suspected you to have done such dirty dealings as to have messed with dark magic."

Ganondorf was now standing and slowly walking towards her in a fixed step. "Yes I took away your power, and without us you simply left and made another army." Ganondorf reached her and once again stood there towering over her, this time Nabooru didn't run. Neither spoke and for a moment it was absolutely silent.

"Anything else?" Ganondorf asked, Nabooru tried to look away, she could see his eyes flaming. "Good" he said when she didn't respond, he lifted his left hand and she slightly cowered.

"Look at you, the person I once thought my most loyal friend and advisor, standing there spewing the words of a traitor". His arm came down hard.

Nabooru reached up and blocked the blow catching it with her right hand and just barely avoiding being knocked to the floor. Stunned, Ganondorf stopped moving for a moment as he stared at her in bewilderment. Nabooru reacted much quicker and pulled both of his arms down and held them there for a moment.

"Ganondorf" she said, "I admire you as a king, your political and military sense are far above all other monarchs that I have seen in Hyrule. But sometimes, I find myself questioning your sense of right and wrong."

Ganondorf struggled and easily freed his hands as Nabooru took a step back.

"I would never want to lose you like we did" she finished, "But in this case you were entirely wrong. And when you came back obviously you didn't realize I had to forgive you for such horrible atrocities." Ganondorf simply stood there as Nabooru backed towards the exit. "Maybe, I shouldn't have".

At this Ganondorf's eyes flared, the shock of this statement hit him harder then all of her previous actions. He looked at her with his eyebrows narrowed for a moment, almost like that of a wounded puppy, then he regained his posture and snarled. Nabooru's hardened expression softened for a moment in regret, then she quickly left Ganondorf's chambers.

The entire Gerudo fortress sat in wait. Two guards waited at the entrance to the king's chambers. But they were not guarding. All of the residents walked slowly with quirky glances. After Nabooru had burst from Ganondorf's chambers, the two leaders hadn't been seen for two days. A single click was heard from the stop of a staircase. Slowly, the king made his way down. He eyes were unfocused as he passed by the staring surrounding guards. He painfully tossed his cape as he made his way out of the fortress. The guards exchanged glances, it was obvious that one fort was not big enough for two leaders.

Ganondorf strutted down the hallways, he turned multiple corners and burst into the throne room like a bat out of a cave. Isle who had been awaiting one of the leaders, turned abruptly and watched him with worried eyes.

He turned to her and said in a small voice, "Make sure everything gets done…" She nodded and watched as he continued through the throne room. The last person to see Ganondorf was the guard waiting by the entrance to the river bridge. She watched him briskly trot by on a tan horse and slowly offered a small salute.

Far away from the fortress in a hidden fort, a band of very dangerous thieves talked amongst themselves. The entire room continued to groan with laughter and chatter until a sudden crash was heard. Two thieves dropped wine glasses as the group looked towards the entrance. Clicking his boots as he walked, Ganondorf entered the cave.


	11. Chapter 11 - War and Peace

Nabooru smiled as she walked down the hall with Ruby. It was impossible to stay sullen when a very jolly Gerudo was relating her experience with stealing milk. Nabooru almost giggled as she bumped into Taint, who seemed in a very good mood herself. The three were quite merry when they entered the throne room and all congregated around the throne. A Gerudo entered from the other end to relate her problem as Isle stood sullenly in a corner. Taint and Ruby walked up to the girl and were discussing some vivid problem as Nabooru suddenly looked around puzzled. She walked over to Isle and tried to place her question.

"Where did….he go?" she asked painfully as Isle lifted her head up from the position of servitude.

"I don't think he will be back for a while" Isle replied.

Nabooru absorbed the news as she nodded her head. She turned away from Isle to walk back to the throne. Nabooru watched Taint and Ruby continue their conversation as she looked up to the throne. And then, Nabooru slowly slipped into the comfortable chair as she clapped her hands for attention. "So" she said, "Let's commence".

Nabooru's gaze remained unfazed as numerous Gerudos approached her with their reports. It seemed as though she were calm, but every time someone gazed into her eyes there remained a glimmer of something that no one could quite comprehend. Nabooru seemed peaceful, but it was obvious at the end of that day that something was wrong. Everyone could feel that someone was missing.

Perched on a flat rooftop, a chilly wind ruffled Isle's bright red hair. Soft footsteps behind her made Isle turn to see Nabooru approaching from behind her. Nabooru sat down along side Isle as the two looked over the fortress together.

Isle took one last look around before murmuring, "Everyone can tell he is gone Nabooru." Nabooru nodded in response as she looked to see two young Gerudos playing a game along the lower dusty streets. "But what everyone can not say, Nabooru, is where is has gone to".

Nabooru continued to watch the two young Gerudos, they continued their game until suddenly, a group of the younger Gerudos walked out of a nearby building.

"Nabooru, I need to ask you something" Isle said turning her gaze to face Nabooru's blank expression. The older of the two playing Gerudos stopped giggling with the younger, she turned to see the group approaching. Isle started talking slower, "Do you…" The older Gerudo pushed the younger to the ground as she got up and walked towards the group.

Nabooru didn't even wait for Isle to finish the question, "Don't ask me where Ganondorf is, Isle" she said sounding rushed, "you and I both know where he is, in fact I'm sure the entire fortress knows exactly where he is". Isle looked down as she closed her eyes. Nabooru didn't respond after that.

* * *

The next day Nabooru walked around doing her duties as she normally did. She easily controlled the Gerudo fortress and no one questioned her immediate regaining of power. As the day entered the early afternoon, it started to seem almost normal again. That was until a ragged looking messenger from the outside was thrown into the throne room. Slipping easily into the throne, Nabooru looked at the messenger questioningly.

"I" he said while swallowing, "have come with news from Hyrule".

The guards at post by the throne rolled their eyes as he continued.

"We have received word from the border lands of an apparent rise to power…The rapidly growing band of thieves are threatening attack".

Nabooru flicked her wrist in disinterest, "If they are planning on attacking, then why weren't we sent a threat letter as well".

"Well" the guard said shakily still being surrounded by multiple Gerudo guards, "That is what I am here for. The king and his counsel as well as the sages believe it has something to do with you Gerudos. Mainly Ganondorf."

Nabooru frowned, "preposterous, we have nothing to do with it. If you are suggesting that we are planning an attack on Hyrule then you are extremely mistaken, we do not currently partake in any of our king's doings."

The messenger shook his head vigorously as the guards began to approach him, "Err um, the sages are calling a meeting" he said worriedly. Nabooru rolled her eyes a him as two guards both grabbed his arms. "Finished" one said in a harsh tone. Without waiting for a reply, they threw him out.

Approaching Nabooru from the side, Renova placed her hand softly on the throne's armrest.

"Nabooru" she said softly, "I know you seem to have had enough bad news already, but the prisoner is requesting you speak to him".

Shrugging, Nabooru stepped off of the throne and followed Renova down the hall. Sure enough, the prisoner waited inside a small holding room looking extremely down.

"Yes" she said entering the room and closing the door.

"Well" he said slowly, "I guess first I should thank you, this prison is far nicer than the previous dungeon, and it doesn't feel even half as cold and lonely".

Nabooru's face remained straight and stern as he continued. "What I would like you to beseech me still, is a possible release completely from captivity".

Nabooru's eyes flickered to life as she smiled slyly, "oh really" she said, "but that would ruin my reputation as a Gerudo now wouldn't it".

The man gritted his teeth in frustration, "I would really appreciate it if you did though". Nabooru smiled, "sorry, but at the same time I probably won't see you the next time I come in here as it is". He looked at her confused for a moment as she tossed her head towards the nearby window and made her exit. It was then that he realized that his cell was the same one Link had previously been in.

Standing at the entrance to the Gerudo fortress bridge the waiting guard sighed, it wasn't her turn anymore to keep watch and yet her replacement was late again. She gritted her teeth as the sun slowly went down. She looked up to the sky in frustration before stomping her foot and walking off, not caring that she was committing a high crime.

Dashing from around a stone corner, Jason appeared tired and breathing heavily. He took a running start and made it over the bridge. Finally he thought to himself as he walked across safely on the other side, "I'm free".

* * *

Entering the palace gates, Jason was not surprised to receive a rough welcome. The guards treated him with much disrespect.

He stood at the gates and watched, "I um, would like some help with something" he said as the guard at the gate looked him over.

"Well I'm sorry sir, but the royal family will not be bothered right now with the business of any ruffians".

Jason's eyes showed no signs of giving up "I realize I look a little well traveled right now but that still does not change my status to that of a ruffian".

The guard laughed a haughty laugh as Jason gritted his teeth. "If knew who I was or what I had been through then you would let me in right now."

"Well sir, if your appearance has anything to say about you, I would definitely continue your title of "ruffian"".

Around the guard and Jason at the palace gates was a small crowd of villagers who were yelling at the other guard on duty. An especially rude one pushed past Jason to grab a hold of the guard and yell at the guard's face.

Jason closed his eyes for a second in frustration before pushing past the rude girl. "Excuse me SIR" he said in annoyance, "But I am Jason Marx the second, the last remaining heir to the Hyrule's border land country of Forresiten and if you will so kindly move I would like to speak with your council".

The guard laughed as he spoke, "Oh a prince! Why you are by far the dirtiest prince I've ever met! Forresiten you say? I would be surprised if you had ever even taken a step in that land".

Jason reached his arm to his chest where he reached inside his torn shirt. Pulling out a chain, he let it slip onto his hand to reveal a charm. The guard looked down at it then pulled away in shock, it was the Forresiten castle's family crest.

Jason was led into the castle where he immediately took a bath. Cleaned and offered new clothing, he was finally able to talk to Hyrule's king. As he entered the throne room wearing his borrowed clothing he was quite surprised to find the far obese king sagging on the chair with his beautiful daughter waiting on guard on a throne next to him. Off to the side stood a young man with a fairy on his shoulder and a jewel encrusted sword attached to his belt. Jason didn't even have to guess who it was, Link.

Jason neared the throne in a bow before kissing the princess's hand, "hello Zelda" he said as she softly blushed before he reached forward and shook hands with the king. "I see we are now on formal grounds" he smiled, "So if you will please, I would like to explain my story".

The king nodded as Zelda spoke for him, "I see you have already had a brush with the Assassins, and the Gerudos, we would love to hear your story. As I know my father wishes to, may we please be entertained over dinner?"

Jason nodded as he looked to Link, "that would be lovely".

Link was not thinking kind thoughts as he looked at the handsome man standing near the throne, Jason was obviously a strong fighter and a charmer, competition for Zelda but at the same time a powerful ally. Link knew he needed Jason as a friend, and a friend who didn't know Zelda.

Back at the Gerudo fortress, Nabooru didn't even glance up as Ruby entered the room. "Has he left yet" she asked as Ruby opened her mouth.

"Yes" Ruby replied, "but you don't seem so surprised by that".

As the two exchanged laughing glances Isle burst into the room looking quite flustered.

"Nabooru!" she said, "the assassins, we have just received word…they have an army".

Nabooru stood up, "is he…".

Isle nodded, "He has joined one of the top positions of their army…"

Nabooru's eyes glazed over and for a long moment she did not speak. "I guess we should call a meeting then". Ruby tapped on Isle's shoulder as the two left the room.

Finally alone in her chambers, Nabooru threw herself on her bed and nearly cried in frustration.

* * *

The council didn't say much as they gathered themselves in the long hall. Ruby tossed out her map accurately marked with the locations her scouts had found the assassins to be in. Lyiamere and Cere worked as the usual team they put together and started pointing and discussing the locations. Taint and Semalie were talking amongst themselves as well with occasional glances at the map. Ruby, Renova, and Isle were also grouped up and pointing at the map every once in a while. This organized chaos continued for a few minutes before Isle looked to Nabooru and held up her hand to stop everybody from talking.

Nabooru's head was in her hands as she looked at the map with red eyes. "This is so stressful", she said in barely a whisper.

The entire room went silent. "Why did he do this to me again", her head fell down onto her neatly folded arms as she collapsed against the table.

Isle put a hand on Nabooru's back, she tried to think of words of comfort but none came.

When Nabooru's head rose the table was still unnaturally quiet, "Doesn't he know this is why we abandoned him the first time? Is he this crazy, to not care?" her eyes grew red, "Ruby, is it possible for us to simply monitor their armies without fighting?"

Ruby looked to the map and nodded, "Well, I'm sure that we could".

Nabooru looked from the map to every one of her council's faces, "We will avoid this war as much as possible, I don't want to bring any other Gerudos into this. If I need to betray him again I will. But for now, we will stay out of this".

The seven members of the council nodded as Isle's face fell, "Nabooru, if you do need to fight him, I will go with you".

Ruby looked to Nabooru as well, "I agree with you on this decision, obviously our king isn't our best leader".

Lyiamere and Semalie chimed in, "we support you as well".

Cere and Taint also smiled their reply.

As Renova finally lifted her head, "We will not fight, I'll get a defense army". Nabooru knew how poor her decision was. It was then that she realized just how much her people supported her.

As the eight Gerudos left the room, Nabooru was walking the slowest. The entire council knew how worked up Nabooru was about this, and for once, she faced no opposition.

* * *

Ganondorf sat a top a tall brown horse surveying the rows of young men and women before him. The current leader of the assassins was a Tall dark woman who looked at her troops with a picky eye, looking for any sign of weaknesses. Her second in command stood beside her, watching the troops as well.

Ganondorf had been shocked at the true power this group held, they could exterminate a city in two weeks, a small town in two days. They moved swiftly and left nothing for their victims. They were the perfect army for taking over Hyrule and Ganondorf could not admit to not liking that. Every time the leader suggested a move the entire army moved and left no one behind. It was very hard not to be impressed.

As the leader, Rouge was her name, called for a move the entire army rippled to a straight standing position. Ganondorf watched as the army took an entire step forward together and began to move through the woods.

Rouge turned her horse to face Ganondorf, "impressive aren't they" she said with a grin as she clicked his jittery horse to move in front of the troops. Ganondorf turned the horse he was on to follow as the blue haired second in command rushed by him. "I knew you would come" she said with a grin, "It seems like the Goddesses do want us to win".

As she clicked on by him Ganondorf just frowned, seeing her reminded him with a little sadness of the fiery second in command of his own he had left back at the fortress. Ganondorf followed the leader in front of the massive troops as he contemplated everything that had happened to him, Ganondorf didn't know if he could ever forgive her, or get forgiveness now as well.

The troops made good progress, by midnight an entire 23 troops of well-trained men had been stationed around the outskirts of Hyrule. The forest borders at the left edge of the Hyrulean cliffs held most of the troops, and the majority of the cliff was covered. The armies had been set up far from the Gerudo boundaries and Lake Hylia was left surrounded but untouched. The Assassins weren't so worried about anything getting through the desert as much as they were something getting through the Lake. As Ganondorf stood at the top of a hill, he watched as the lines of troops fell in to small tents pitched in neat rows. The assassins could be ruthless and barbaric in their attack methods, but it was obvious the had certain sophistication in the style they had taught their warriors to go about their business. As Ganondorf crawled into a large tent to sleep that night, his mind was full of various feelings.

* * *

In one of the Hyrule Palace's many courtyards, Jason and Link walked side by side. It had started out as a simple conversation about their sword fighting experience and ended up as an entire discussion on everything that had been happening. At Jason's advice Zelda had ordered the stationing of small troops throughout Hyrule. They had already begun to build up an army and it seemed as though they were prepared for whatever was to come. Link smiled as the two suddenly brought up the topic of Zelda.

Link's eyes looked dreamy, "I have never loved somebody as much as I have Zelda," he said staring at a nearby fountain, "she is so…gorgeous".

Jason nodded, "When I first saw Zelda I could have sworn I was looking at an angel".

Link's eyes darted to Jason as Jason quickly covered himself, "You are a very lucky man Link".

Link sighed and smiled as he walked over to a bench that shone with the moonlight. "Do you have anybody special waiting for you Jason?" Link asked as he stared ahead at the fountain.

Jason shook his head, "No…" Link nodded as Jason shrugged, "But there is one girl that I have found myself fascinated with".

Looking fairly interested Link nodded "oh?"

"Yes" replied Jason, "a Gerudo…and though she might be a thief, she seems to be so kind…I can't stop thinking about her".

Link didn't respond for a moment as Jason continued, "Her eyes, her voice, she just seems to be so different from all of them".

Link looked up, "Nabooru?" he asked as Jason nodded.

Link looked back down, "Nabooru is a thief, she loves life, definitely, and she can be a loyal friend but…"

Jason looked to him confused, "but what?" he asked.

Link just shrugged again, "just remember, Nabooru is a Gerudo".

Jason nodded at the remark but internally he ignored Link completely. To him, Nabooru was not the type of person that would lie, cheat, and steal, it just didn't seem like the person he had seen back at the fortress.

Zelda daintily stepped out into the courtyard, "Link? Jason?" she called tentatively before smiling and walking over to their bench. Zelda slipped along to Link's side and received a small peck on her forehead before smiling at Jason. "How are you this lovely night" she asked as Link wrapped his arm around hers.

"I'm fine" Jason replied with a smile, "and you?"

"I'm feeling great" she said leaning against Link, "Just the day was so stressful".

Link sighed, "All the work it takes to set up a few troops is amazing. Oh, by the way, do I need to be present at the sages meeting tomorrow?"

Zelda nodded, "That is stressful too, all of the sages are going to be angry about this, he seemed so behaved last time, I have no idea what happened to him".

Jason looked to his side, he didn't like Ganondorf very much anymore. Zelda shivered a moment then began to pull Link towards the entrance, "Its getting a bit nippy outside, can we continued this conversation somewhere warmer perhaps?" The two men nodded as the three headed for the castle.

* * *

Saria made her way down the side of a small pony as she patiently waited for the town's gates to open. Floating in the water nearby was Ruto who swam along the channel to climb out where Saria stood. The two entered together and easily slipped through the morning merriment. Impa arrived on a white horse looking tall and regal, she slipped down as well. Last to arrive to the castle was Nabooru. Galloping along on a pure black stallion. Impa turned from her white horse to see the approaching Gerudo and she found herself stunned. The two exchanged waves as Nabooru dived into the moat and came out with her black cloak. As they walked into the market place together Impa couldn't help wondering, was Nabooru riding Ganondorf's horse?

Slipping into the crowd as she normally did, Nabooru made her way to the Temple of Time and dropped her dark cloak in the nearby bushes. Inside, Rauru was doing his usual business, sitting on his butt in his special chair at the table. Nabooru took her place and folded her arms on the table. She felt quite ready to face the barrage of insults that she knew would shortly happen.

Looking around the table, she found Darunia asleep, Ruto awake with eyes as wide as saucers, and Zelda looking towards the ceiling obviously lost in thought. Rauru clapped his large hands together and in an instant all of the sages snapped to attention.

"So" he said sounding quite formal, "we are here today to discuss…"

Ruto cut him off, "The assassins, it's the assassins right?"

Zelda placed a hand on Ruto's back, "You okay honey?" she asked worriedly as the rest of the sages looked to her expectantly.

Ruto shook her head, "I saw their troops" she said, "they were everywhere. I don't know what exactly they were trying to do but they surrounded the lake and some attacked our scouts".

Saria nodded, "on my way over I had to hide behind bushes, they were at least 10 soldiers hiding in the cliffs above".

Impa frowned as she folded her arms, obviously not happy with the information.

Zelda sighed, "it seems things are worse then we had expected. We will send men to the lake and to the cliffs, I'm sure the Kokkiri will be safe in the forest, but the Zoras…"

Rauru nodded, "I will try my best to help in any way I can and if at all possible, will activate the triforce". The Sages quickly started up, suggesting ways they would help and muttering to themselves.

Zelda looked to Nabooru and coughed making the room become silent again. "Nabooru" she said sounding quite regal, "Your armies better not be planning on joining this group about to attack us".

Nabooru turned her head to the side as Zelda continued almost sarcastically, "I know that you have been stressed a lot about issues lately, but that leaves you no reason to run off and join their forces. All though your people are separate from the rest of Hyrule, it also leaves no room to run off and consider yourselves enemies of us in our time of need". Nabooru did not stir.

"Nabooru, as a friend and a sage I am hoping you plan on helping us".

At this, Nabooru turned back to her former position.

She looked Zelda directly in the eye, "Well, well, well, insulting me and then requesting my help. Sorry to inform you, but because of the tremendous issues I seem to be having at the fortress I will not be joining in this war."

Ruto's mouth dropped open as she butted in, "Really? You can't be serious! With Ganondorf back in power I could have almost sworn you guys would practically jump for joy with the chance of war".

Nabooru turned to face Ruto, "Ganondorf is no longer with us" she replied before standing up from the table and walking out the door.

By now Zelda felt ready to slap Ruto, she had obviously been ill-informed and they could see it was killing Nabooru. The remaining sages looked to each other without speaking.

"I guess…the meeting is over" Zelda said softly shaking her head and looking to the table. It didn't take words to tell why as Nabooru slowly slipped out of the temple.

Standing from the table, Impa started to walk towards the door and Saria jumped to follow. Ruto left at a slow pace as well but Darunia remained at the table. Hopping to her feet, Zelda took a dash to the door.

As Zelda dashed by Saria looked to Impa with innocent eyes. "Impa" she said wearily, "Why would Ganondorf go with the Assassins after all?"

Impa frowned in reply, "What goes on in the mind of Ganondorf escapes even me".

Saria shrugged her small green shoulders, I hope Zelda doesn't feel responsible for this" she said almost sadly. Impa held open the door as the two walked on.

* * *

Zelda reached the outsides of the gates to find Nabooru mounting a black horse, her cloak already cast off. "I'm sorry about that" she said as Nabooru gathered her reins.

Nabooru looked to her with flaming eyes, "You, sorry? Didn't think the princess was capable of apologizing. You know, I have just been insulted, begged, and then reminded of something that I am trying to forget, for some reason sorry seems a little light as a goodbye."

Nabooru seemed ready to yell at the princess standing there, "Ganondorf is no longer my problem, if I have to I'll help but for now, I don't feel like involving myself in a war that is not mine".

Zelda nodded her head and looked up to see Nabooru jerking the reins to the side. Nabooru took one last glance at Zelda before she galloped off. Zelda's eyes watered in regret, she stepped across the bridge to enter the busied marketplace.

As Nabooru clicked her horse across the bridge, she found groups of young Gerudo fighters practicing with long swords. Girls scrambled to find open spaces to practice as a current captain of the forces made her way to the bridge.

The Captain bowed her head in respect before indicating towards the girls, "They have been practicing very hard" she said. "Things have gotten so dramatic that everyone wants to be involved".

Nabooru nodded as she slid off of the horse, "I'm going to the stables now" Nabooru said trying to speak over the surrounding noise, "Could you please inform my council that I have returned?"

The Gerudo nodded and ran off through the girls still practicing. Nabooru made her way with the horse through the crowds and into the stables. As it neared its stable the horse started to fidget and Nabooru found herself tugging it into the small corral.

In a way, Ganondorf's horse acted just like Ganondorf, stubborn and not used to being confined. Nabooru left the stables and walked back into the fortress to find Isle waiting in the throne room. Isle offered a weak smile as Nabooru approached her.

"Was is okay?" she asked her leader. Nabooru shrugged, "Better then some, worse then others".

Isle nodded, "guess that's good".

Nabooru smiled and softly saluted her second, "Carry on Soldier" she joked though even that sounded choked.

Isle nodded and Nabooru once again turned to go continue on her business.

As she swished down a dark hallway a guard softly bowed her head, "General" she said respectfully turning to watch Nabooru continue down the hallway.

Nabooru turned past a large lounging chamber to find six more Gerudo guards jump up as she passed. The six bowed in respect while standing. Similar displays of loyalty and affection rippled down the hall as Nabooru passed. She was their hope, they adored her and would follow her anywhere. Ganondorf as a leader had gained the loyalty of the Gerudos once, but even he knew that he could not aspire to the level of trust they had with Nabooru. This is the factor that led to Ganondorf's downfall, something extremely unavoidable.

* * *

Ganondorf stood by Rouge as the two watched a tall man on a dark brown horse approach them. The man descended and nodded to them, he had a tall frame and was obviously far older than Rouge.

"Cochon" Rouge called, "I'm glad you have finally made it".

Ganondorf snorted and looked down to keep from giggling. _Cochon's name meant pig._

Cochon nodded in reply to Rouge with his eyes closed. He opened them to blink at from Ganondorf then back to Rouge.

"This must be Ganondorf" he said, then to Ganondorf, "I have heard much about you". He stuck out his hand and Ganondorf shook it respectively.

"Cochon will be a third force to the army being built" Rouge said to introduce the tall man in front of them, Ganondorf kept his tall composure and once again had to resist a giggle.

Rouge gave him an icy glare before Cochon replied in his smooth voice, "I hope I have not kept you waiting long" he said kissing Rouge's hand.

Rouge smiled, "Not at all, shall we continue to the camps? The current fortress is just a few minutes from them."

"We can go now if you like, the few but well trained troops I have will be joining us once we reach there". Rouge flicked her head and began walking towards the Hyrulean borders with Cochon following.

Ganondorf frowned to himself, "What's gotten into me" he muttered as he slipped behind them. The king of the Gerudos had just giggled about something as silly as a name, he didn't know if it was his younger age slipping out or just himself losing his mind.

* * *

Nabooru stood at the head of a long table, seven pairs of eyes watched her intently as she heavily sighed. "So, if you haven't all yet heard, a third member is joining the leaders of the armies beyond the borders. The scouts sent out have been able to keep us posted on their locations in relation to us, currently it seems there is no conflict. The defense troops have been sent out, they are strategically arranged to draw fighting away from the fortress.".

The seven heads nodded as Ruby chimed in, "Our intelligence with the scouts is traveling faster than the posts the Hylain castle gets. I have personally made sure that their locations will deliver only the necessary information."

Semalie tilted her head in question, "If the need does come to fight, what will we do if the troops bring the fighting to the fortress?"

Isle answered for Nabooru, "If they try that, we cut the bridge and slice through any soldiers that manage to make it across".

The group agreed at this as Taint brought up another question, "That sounds good but what happens if one of our scouting parties gets caught?"

Nabooru smiled, "don't doubt our scouts, any captures will be on purpose and will be used to our benefit only."

The council seemed extremely satisfied with this remark as well.

Renova snapped as a smile came to her face, "May we please draw this meeting to a close?" she asked politely.

"Yes" the other members replied in unison. Nabooru waved her arm to dismiss the group before she stepped out of the room, the Gerudo plan for no involvement had taken off at a very good start.

As the Gerudos sat happily around with their scout parties merrily ripping off the planted armies, in Lake Hylia something far more dangerous was happening. Three well armed men snuck around a rocky bend to keep a sharp watch on three zora children. Happily splashing in the water, the three children were completely oblivious. Stationed above the lake, 86 men were positioned behind bushes and trees, awaiting their call to jump into the lake and attack. Cochon's men stayed hidden a few yards behind the troops and had their swords drawn.

Outside of Lake Hylia's gates were the opposite force. A small diversion army of about 10 men waited at the gates ready to get anything that would try to go in or out. Along the cliff's borders were 45 men, they held their arrows drawn as the attack was expected from above. Hidden in a small cove nearer to the feeding river from Gerudo Valley, were another 30 men, half had arrows drawn and aimed at the rocky holes and trees along the cliffs.

Every soldier now watched the three zora children. They all were waiting for the enemy to make its move.


	12. Chapter 12 - The Missing Scouts

Jason stood with the 30 hid by the river. He searched the cliffs for movement as a soft breeze slowly started up. Link remained with the other nine at the gate, Epona wasn't far away. One of the zoras looked up in his bliss to see something that shocked him. He pointed a finger at the hiding place of the three men. Jason looked exactly to where the men stood and his archer's drawn bows were released. Suddenly, all the men jumped to their feet, with their cover blown, neither side needed to hide. The half of the 86 closer to the rocks jumped up and were immediately attacked by 45 archers and swordsmen. As they fought, the 30 fighters by the river jumped into the lake and started to swim across. The other part of the 86 jogged through the cliffs and were there to join them. Link jumped on Epona and charged into the grass at the side of the lake and within seconds was clashing swords with men along the ground. The other nine galloped in as well and soon were attacking and being attacked.

Link was surrounded by five men who jumped at him at the same time. Flipping his sword to the side, he swung his sword in a wide arc, slashing and taking out them all at the same time. He swung on to the man next to and then moved on to a larger group who were still slipping down the sides of the hills. The thirty reached the shore and came on to the suffering ten who were already showing signs of defeat. Jason took a swing at a soldier before slipping to the side of a fellow fighter. Link cut through as well, but even with the two present there it was obvious that the opposing side was winning. Hyrule's small distraction force was no match for the trained army and the majority of the fighting kept falling to Link and Jason as their comrades fell in battle.

The 45 still attacking above were making headway with the group of men still coming from the cliffs. The 86 were reduced in half as the Hylainians showed major bravery in the cliffs. Link cut through one last soldier and watched as the remaining group on the ground backed off. He looked up to see the group on the cliffs backing away from his soldiers as well. He rested his sword in anticipation as he looked around and asked no one in particular, "Did we win?" Jason kept his eyes glued to the cliffs. "Pick up your sword" he replied as he took on a fighting stance. Link raised his hand and slowly turned his head upwards. Then he saw it.

As his soldiers set down their swords and laughed at the retreating soldiers, Cochon's men swung from above. Within seconds the group of 45 men were cut through like butter. Link lifted his sword and watched them charge down a rocky pass through the cliffs to Lake Hylia. Drawing their swords, the small remnants of the men on the ground looked up in fear. Link had a grave look on his face. He closed his eyes one last long time, then he charged up to the pass determined to meet them. Seeing Link run, Jason soon followed and in a second the two forces were running at each other.

Link reached the others first, he swung and found the fighter he was paired against to be quite and excellent fighter. He back flipped from the force which was still moving and swung again. Link had to flip backwards down the hill in between swings. His hits were extremely inaccurate and he only was able to hit the man he attacked once. At the bottom of the hill he surprised that man and took on an entire swinging hit. A small triumph occurred as he was able to slash five men in front of him across the belly. They doubled over and he was met by the next group. They fought against him just as pressingly and he was slowly pushed back towards the lake. His fighters were trying to fight hard as well and he was very shocked to realize that Cochon's men matched evenly against his. He took one last swing and the next wave of men fell.

10 men started running back up the hill and the forces on the ground pushed even harder against Link's men. Link then realized their plan as he passed the scientists hut and found himself on the border of the lake. Within seconds, one of his comrades was thrown in. The fighter who threw him was going wild and immediately started at Link. Jason swung from behind on that man then found himself pushed from behind – into the lake. Cochon's men started on the two soldiers in the lake and Link's men could only jump out of the way as they were swung at. From the lake, unknown to Cochon's men, were 50 Zoras, all well armed. The soldiers pushed Link's to the very border and started to smile with triumph. It was then that the Zoras hit.

50 fish people leaped from the water and attacked Cochon's men. With the combined force Cochon's men had to retreat. Link was left smiling on the shore, now they had won.

* * *

Zelda sat in a large velvet chair as a few royal officials murmured on about the political business in the kingdom. Running in quite expectantly, two messengers bowed and said quite excitedly, "Princess! The forces at Hylia won! And the Zoras are helping us at this very moment!" Zelda smiled at the news, "When are our soldiers getting back?" she asked completely ignoring the officials still trying to talk to her. "Tonight" one of the messengers replied, "And Link and Jason are both still alive". Zelda smiled and sank back into her chair. Everything was going beautifully, well everything except relations with the Gerudos, but she didn't have time to worry about that.

The palace of Hyrule celebrated that night and immediately sent out more defending troops in their glory. Not so far away, the leaders at the fortress were having an entirely different problem.

Nabooru banged her fist on a table as she nearly yelled at a messenger, "What do you mean they haven't returned! Where are they?"

Gerudo officials surrounded the table and tried to calm their leader, "They might have just gotten lost" they replied. "We sent newer scouts, they might not know the forest as well as we thought they did".

Nabooru shook her head in frustration as the messenger cringed. "I'm sorry" she said, "they had last reported finding some unusual activity around a forest clearing".

Nabooru stood and still shook her head, "No! Why have they done this, haven't we made it obvious we want no involvement?"

Isle walked and grabbed Nabooru's wrists, "We've made it very clear" she said trying to comfort her, "This might have been some mistake".

Nabooru shook her head, "no..." she turned and walked out of the room still muttering "no…"

A little late, Renova jogged into the room and was met with icy glares. "What did I miss?" she asked slightly cringing at the stares.

Isle frowned, "A scout party has been captured. And we keep hearing horrible reports".

Renova's eyes dulled, "Oh" she replied.

Ruby frowned, "Nabooru thinks this is all her fault for some reason. She is in one of those moods…"

Renova pondered this for a moment before she timidly lifted her head, "Will we be joining the war then?"

The room stayed silent as Nabooru reappeared around the corner, "If they do not give me my scouts back", she replied, "yes".

* * *

The morning air felt unusually cold against the guards faces. They paced around a well armed but quickly made fort. Inside the many chambers of the fort were the higher officials of the assassins.

Ganondorf sat on the edge of a silk bed as he stared at the ground. No one was bothering him, and he was left to think. For the first time, he wasn't the superior leader. Although he was much wiser in fighting, Rouge and Cochon were in their late forties and over twice his age. The lack of power was very frustrating, but going back to where he would be in complete power was out of the question for him right now. For some reason, he couldn't figure out what he wanted to do with Nabooru.

The guard standing outside looked across the forest clearing. He squinted his eyes at a nearby bush.

"Hey" he yelled to the other guard, and then finished to himself, "Did I just see something red?"

The second guard on duty called out "what do you see?" He stared again at the bush, and again with the breeze something red flapped up.

"What is this?" He started towards the bush and something was screaming though his mind, it was Gerudo red. He walked slowly forward and then leaped at the bush. Lying on his belly, he looked up to see a red handkerchief caught on the branch.

He laughed as he pulled it off the branch and yelled, "False alarm". This time the second guard didn't respond.

The first guard turned around to see his friend lying on the ground. "What…?" he said in a startled matter as something heavy hit him on the ground.

Slipping past the now clear gate, Nabooru jumped on to a supporting wooden beam of the fort and climbed onto the top of the fort's gate. Inside multiple guards paced around but none of them seemed to notice her. No alarm, meant no worries. Nabooru jumped on to the ground and immediately slipped behind some boxes as she mapped out her path from the gate to the fort. She waited until the first guard's back was turned before she jumped up and dashed to a pillar. Within a few seconds, she was at the fort where she slipped down behind the guard and jogged in.

The halls were built in what would be called a plain fashion to the Gerudos. The straight main paths ran parallel to each other down through the building. The side hallways however, were scattered about, obviously the sign of the fort being quickly made. Nabooru navigated through the two main hallways and easily slipped by all the opposing guards. But after ten minutes of searching she could not find her goal.

Slipping on to a higher rafter to quickly hide herself, she jumped and held her breath as two guards walked by muttering to each other.

"Does it seem like Ganondorf is in a foul mood today to you too?" one asked.

"Actually", the second replied, "I couldn't tell what kind of mood he was in. He is in a moody mood I guess…"

The second one slurred as he spoke and staggered along next to his friend, Nabooru could have pounced and knocked the two out at once. But as she jumped from the beams she did not, there was no need to obviously, those two were indeed drunk and of no harm.

As Nabooru turned the corner, she saw the small hallway the guards had just came from. It was then that she realized a second prize that lay in this fort. She slipped down the hall and entered the room at the end of the hallway.

Raising his head from the ground, Ganondorf looked up in surprise. He scanned the well decorated room twice before suspiciously coming back to the floor at his bed. Although his eye looked to be stationary on the ground, Ganondorf kept a close watch on his piles of rich ornaments and décor.

Nabooru crouched behind a barrel of jewels. Around her were piles of pillows and silk, obviously the decorations of a king. She peered her eyes around the corner, to look at the large silk bed. Ganondorf sat in the middle. Even though his head was down, Nabooru could feel the heat of his gaze through the back of her head. He lifted his head in one last surveillance and stood up.

Ganondorf slowly clicked his boots over towards Nabooru. The shadow of his tall frame hovered over leaving a dark shadow on the barrels of jewels. He stared at them for a moment, before swiping his hand and knocking them to the floor. Jewels spilled out everywhere and Ganondorf looked down to a surprise. No one was there.

He looked down in confusion again, before a voice spoke up from behind him, "Looking for me?"

He spun around to face the defiant figure of Nabooru standing behind him.

He looked down, with a grim expression on his face as Nabooru spoke again. "I want my scouts back".

Ganondorf's lips curled to a smile, "So demanding aren't we, I don't even get a hello". He stepped forward to bring himself directly in front of her.

Nabooru bit her lip in frustration as she stared up at him. "Hello Ganondorf" a forced smile came out, "Its been a while hasn't it?"

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow, "You sound stressed, my dear you work too hard."

Nabooru tilted her head, barely being able to keep the large grin, "Well, it seems I have to work hard, because otherwise my people get locked away from me and my king leaves to go sit on his butt and laugh".

Ganondorf's expression changed to that of amusement, "Is that how it seems to you? I left the lovely Gerudos to come here and…sit on my butt?"

"Ganondorf…don't push my mood. Just give me my scouts back".

Ganondorf replied calmly, "Nabooru, I don't think I can do that right now. I don't even know where they are being kept".

Nabooru winced, "Really?" she asked as all of her former commanding air seemed to drain out of her. Ganondorf nodded as she dropped her head and walked away from him.

Nabooru stopped at the silk bed and collapsed on the side of it as she looked back up to him. "You look a little lost" Ganondorf said looking at her still amused.

She sighed, "My scouts are gone…and I don't really want to put all of the girls through fighting".

Ganondorf shrugged, "They would fight if you told them to".

He walked to her side as she continued to sulk on the bed. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked staring down at her, "I've never seen you not want to fight before. You normally fight everyone, and win. That's why you are the Gerudo general. I'm surprised you didn't jump at this opportunity, I mean it's the perfect chance to get me again isn't it?"

Nabooru hunched her shoulders, "Ganondorf, I'm the reason you're here, I don't want to have to fight you because of…that."

Both of them stopped talking for a moment as a large thumping was heard outside, some guards were patrolling by.

Nabooru listened as they faded away before turning back up to Ganondorf. "I know that you and I will never see the same way about my betrayal to you. I will always think it right and you will always this it was wrong. So maybe, you could just return and we could forget all about it…"

Ganondorf bent down and sat beside her on the bed, "I'm afraid I can't do that now" he replied, "This is my opportunity to have power again…Just trust me on this, I will never attack you or the Gerudos."

Nabooru nodded, "Okay…I would love to believe you, but there is one little problem, I want my scouts back".

Ganondorf smiled, "Then go get them, I'm not stopping you".

Nabooru stood and walked towards the door as Ganondorf called out one last thing, "Naby, just so I know we are on the same ground, I still hate you".

Nabooru smiled mischievously, "I'm sure you do, but just so you know as well, I really wouldn't mind if you came back to the fortress." With that, she swept out of the room and back into the hallway.

Ganondorf sank back on to the side of the bed and ran his hands through his long red hair. He heard some guards walk by again and he sat up to softly shake his head. They were by far too loud, but he figured they would figure that out if they encountered Nabooru sneaking around out there. He looked to the exit of his room as the name lingered on his mind. The worst part was he knew that even though she felt guilty now, pretty soon she would go back to her previous way of thinking that she was right and he was wrong. And in a way, he knew she was right.


End file.
